Chapter 2: Mediating Dialogue in Public Online Affinity Spaces

Outside of our safe and comfortable Web 3.0 ideological bubbles, contemporary online discourse is increasingly marked by anti-social and uncivil commenting practices (Cheng, Bernstein, Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, & Leskovec, 2017; Coe, Kenski, & Rains, 2014). Reagle (2015) describes “comment” as a kind of genre marked by short, asynchronous, and reactive communication, and while online comments can function to inform and improve, they are regularly used to manipulate, alienate, and shape readers and participants. Online discussion forums are open venues for “trolls,” “haters,” and “cyberbullies” who provoke, flame, intimidate, and victimize fellow commenters, often to regulate spaces (Phillips, 2015). From subtle jabs to the abhorrent invasion of privacy of “doxing” (or publicly documenting someone’s contact, financial, and/or health information), online spaces can feel unwelcoming and unsafe.