Open AccessOnline Ideology: A Comparison of Website Communication and Media Use
Author(s) -
Byrne Cristina L.,
Nei Darin S.,
Barrett Jamie D.,
Hughes Michael G.,
Davis Joshua L.,
Griffith Jennifer A.,
Harkrider Lauren N.,
Hester Kimberly S.,
D. Angie Amanda,
Robledo Issac C.,
Connelly Shane,
O'Hair H. Dan,
Mumford Michael D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of computer‐mediated communication
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.15
H-Index - 119
ISSN - 1083-6101
DOI - 10.1111/jcc4.12003
Subject(s) - ideology , perspective (graphical) , social psychology , sociology , public relations , psychology , political science , law , computer science , politics , artificial intelligence
This study examined and compared the websites of ideological groups from a communications and media use perspective. Thirty‐six websites with message boards categorized as either violent ideological, nonviolent ideological, or nonviolent nonideological were content coded for several distinguishing characteristics. The results indicated that group type was predicted by the type of information presented, the difficulty of becoming a member, and the amount of freedom members had on discussion boards. These findings suggest that characteristics of violent ideological group websites can be used to distinguish them from websites of both nonviolent ideological and nonideological groups. This study also provides a demonstration of a research methodology that can be used to naturally observe ideological groups via an online setting .