AR; Political discussion in online chat?

Is political discussion possible in online chatrooms? It absolutely is, argues Jennifer Stromer-Galley in a recent article. She and Anna M. Martinson analysed chatroom conversations to see whether or not the particularities of this online form of communication hinder meaningful, coherent and engaged discussion about politics.

(Previous research tend to claim that chat is not really suitable for such discussion, as messages are short and fragmented, arguments are underdeveloped, and random, wild changes in topic are rife.)

Finns uninterested in politics

photo by flickr user "jpaudit"

A short piece of news from Finnish public service broadcaster YLE reported about a survey measuring the political knowledge of Finns across the society. The survey, conducted by the University of Turku, found that a large part of the general population had quite poor knowledge about domestic politics. Three out of four respondents were unable to name the currently governing parties.

Most of the more than 1000 respondents could name prime minister Matti Vanhanen. In contrast, only one in four considered it important to vote in the European parliamentary elections. Political knowledge showed correlation with the income level and profession of the respondents.