Female online participation in the brazilian presidential campaign
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Abstract
The Internet encloses unambiguous possibilities of public
communication and debate, by creating new spaces for
political expression and participation. As a potential
deliberative section, readers’ comments in newspapers’
websites constitute a domain enabling citizens to express their
views on a particular issue, reacting specifically to a news
piece and discussing it along with other readers as well.
From a gender perspective, studying the women’s
participation in online debates becomes increasingly relevant
to understanding the social aspects of Internet use. Some studies
have demonstrated, however, that gender differences in
online communication tend to disfavour women: women send
fewer messages, receive fewer responses and often aren’t able
to control the topic of discussion (Herring, 2000).
This paper intends to take the debate around the Brazilian
presidential campaign as a case study of the possibility of a
“female” public sphere, attempting to analyse the way by
which women discuss political issues online. Additionally,
given the nature and characteristics of the main presidential
candidates, our aim is also to understand whether questions
about gender were important to the discussion or if the
dichotomy male/female was suppressed in the public debate
surrounding the campaign.
In order to fulfil these purposes, our research focuses on
readers’ on the Brazilian presidential campaign (September-
November 2010) in the online versions of two Portuguese
newspapers, Público and Expresso.
Keywords
Internet, readers’ comments, media, participation, genderDownloads
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