Meaner on Mobile: Incivility and Impoliteness in Communicating Contentious Politics on Sociotechnical Networks

Abstract

This study explores the nature of how mobile social media may potentially be sharpening the tenor of communicating online. Specifically, randomized representative Twitter data were collected for several controversial issues, and then examined to determine the extent to which mobile or web-based content tends more toward greater incivility and impoliteness. Additional analyses further model how certain dialogic features, such as explicitly mentioning other users and retweeting others’ posts, positively relate to hostility in the discourse. Building on the basis of technological affordances and user negotiation in digitally mediated environments, this study contributes to a better understanding of how individuals express themselves on mobile devices as these are rapidly becoming normalized modes for communicating with one another online.