Hate speech as a form of entertainment: an unexpected support for the gratification hypothesis on Twitter

Abstract

This paper is trying to explore the Uses and Gratification hypothesis, as it applies to Twitter political debates. The findings show that the level of ideological segregation online may be lower than the previous research in this area indicated. Simultaneously, this study may provide an unexpected support for the Uses and Gratifications hypothesis. It comes from the conclusion that many people may find gratification in entertaining themselves by political hate speech. And morality may be one of the main driving forces behind this phenomenon because the sense of one’s own moral superiority is so gratifying.