Political Deliberation in Three Regions on the Internet: Folk Discourse in Chinese New Media Context.

This study applied Meyrowitz's theory to explore the different characteristics of three online regions and their impacts on political deliberation on the Internet. A survey of 346 respondents was conducted to test 18 hypotheses. It found a 'shift' strategy that may facilitate expression of deviance on the Internet. It also identified two deviants—the rational perceived-deviant and the irrational non-perceived-deviant in the online deliberation. Moreover, online space can be divided into three different regions. In "Middle Region", folk discourse is re-cooperative, aggressive, the lowest in rationality, with strong interest in political discussion, but less likely to express deviant views on politics. In "Forefront Region", folk discourse is moderate in both re-cooperation and aggression, the highest in rationality, but not much interested in political deliberation. As for "Deep Back Region", rationality of discussion is moderate, re-cooperation and aggression are the lowest, and individuals are most likely to express deviant opinions about political issues. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]