Online Communities And Crowds In The Rise Of The Five Star Movement

This book reflects on the political capacity of citizen users to impact politics, explaining the danger in assuming that mass online participation has unconditionally democratising effects. Focusing on the case of Italy's Five Star Movement, the book argues that Internet participation is naturally unequal and, without normative and strong design efforts, Internet platforms can generate noisy, undemocratic crowds instead of self-reflexive, norm-bounded communities. The depiction of a democratising Internet can be easily exploited by those who manage these platforms to sell crowds as deliberating publics. As the Internet, almost everywhere, turns into the primary medium for political engagement, it also becomes the symbol of what is wrong with politics. Internet users experience unprecedented, instantaneous and personalised access to information and communication and, by comparison, they feel a much stronger level of irrelevance in the existing political system. Acknowledgements......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 List of Figures......Page 10 List of Tables......Page 13 Chapter 1: Introduction......Page 14 Why Italy, Why the M5S......Page 15 What Does the Internet Change for Political Participation?......Page 16 What Does the Internet Change for Political Organisation?......Page 17 What Does the Internet Change for Political Deliberation?......Page 18 Citizen Users, Communities and Crowds......Page 19 References......Page 20 Chapter 2: The Emergence of the Citizen User......Page 22 What Is Trust and Why We Should Care......Page 24 Political Trust in Italy......Page 26 Beppe Grillo Internet Operation to Weaken Trust......Page 35 Internet and Mobile Technologies......Page 46 Users: Mobilising and Organising......Page 49 Internet-Mediated Citizenship......Page 52 References......Page 59 Chapter 3: Mobilisation and Elections......Page 65 Beppe Grillo Before beppegrillo.it......Page 67 Blog......Page 70 Meetup......Page 71 V-Day......Page 77 Municipal Lists......Page 78 To the Five Star Movement......Page 81 Why the 2013 Result Was Unexpected......Page 84 The Diffusion of Meetups and the M5S Electoral Trajectory......Page 87 Two-Layered Architecture for Mobilisation and Communication......Page 90 Legacy Media in the 1994 and 2013 Campaigns......Page 97 The Left–Right Dimension and the Anti-Establishment Dimension in Italy......Page 107 The Electoral Programs of the M5S......Page 110 The M5S Ontology and Parent Ideology......Page 115 References......Page 120 ICTs Diffusion in Italy......Page 127 Blog as Medium and Message......Page 129 From Blog to Community......Page 131 The Media System......Page 133 Everyday Political Talk of Networked Users......Page 137 Measuring the Online Activity Within the M5S Community......Page 139 Where Users Enter the Media System......Page 141 Users’ Copresence Across Platforms......Page 143 The Role of Gender......Page 145 Users’ Permanence and Frequency of Activity......Page 147 References......Page 151 Chapter 5: Online Discussion Within the M5S Community......Page 155 Issues, Topics and Style on the Forum......Page 156 Coding of Issues......Page 157 Coding of Topics......Page 159 Coding of Style and Expression of Opinion......Page 163 Evolution of Topics and Users’ Interest......Page 164 Discussion Networks......Page 169 The Shape of Discussion Networks......Page 170 The Discussion Network of the M5S......Page 177 Discussion Network on Immigration......Page 180 Discussion Network on 2013 Confidence Vote......Page 184 Discussion Network on Exiting the Common Currency......Page 189 The Everywhere Political Talk......Page 191 References......Page 193 Chapter 6: The M5S Community and Citizen’s Income......Page 196 Mapping Documents in the Concept Space......Page 198 The Concept Space......Page 199 Term Frequency Analysis......Page 201 The Semantic Interpretation Vector......Page 202 The GMI Public Debate in Italy......Page 203 The GMI Debate Within the M5S......Page 208 Discussion Forum: 2009–2011......Page 211 Discussion Forum and Blog: 2011–2012......Page 217 Discussion Forum, Blog and Parliament: 2012–2015......Page 221 The Influence of Online Deliberation Within the M5S Community......Page 223 References......Page 228 Internet-Enabled Organisation Beyond the M5S and Italy......Page 232 Asymmetric Online Deliberation......Page 238 Citizen User and Democracy......Page 242 Crowd-Mediated Politics......Page 247 References......Page 252 Index......Page 255 Acknowledgements 6 Contents 8 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 13 Chapter 1: Introduction 14 Why Italy, Why the M5S 15 Political Participation 16 What Does the Internet Change for Political Participation? 16 What Does the Internet Change for Political Organisation? 17 What Does the Internet Change for Political Deliberation? 18 Citizen Users, Communities and Crowds 19 Outline of the Book 20 References 20 Chapter 2: The Emergence of the Citizen User 22 Decline in Trust 24 What Is Trust and Why We Should Care 24 Political Trust in Italy 26 Beppe Grillo Internet Operation to Weaken Trust 35 Internet Users 46 Internet and Mobile Technologies 46 Users: Mobilising and Organising 49 Internet-Mediated Citizenship 52 References 59 Chapter 3: Mobilisation and Elections 65 The Mobilisation of the Citizen User and the Creation of the M5S 67 Beppe Grillo Before beppegrillo.it 67 Blog 70 Meetup 71 V-Day 77 Municipal Lists 78 To the Five Star Movement 81 Internet and Legacy Media in the Electoral Trajectory of the M5S 84 Why the 2013 Result Was Unexpected 84 The Diffusion of Meetups and the M5S Electoral Trajectory 87 Two-Layered Architecture for Mobilisation and Communication 90 Legacy Media in the 1994 and 2013 Campaigns 97 The M5S in the Ideology Space 107 The Left–Right Dimension and the Anti-Establishment Dimension in Italy 107 The Electoral Programs of the M5S 110 The M5S Ontology and Parent Ideology 115 References 120 Chapter 4: Online Communities and Online Crowds 127 The Media Ecology of the M5S Community 127 ICTs Diffusion in Italy 127 Blog as Medium and Message 129 From Blog to Community 131 The Media System 133 Participation on the M5S Media System 137 Everyday Political Talk of Networked Users 137 Measuring the Online Activity Within the M5S Community 139 Where Users Enter the Media System 141 Users’ Copresence Across Platforms 143 The Role of Gender 145 Users’ Permanence and Frequency of Activity 147 References 151 Chapter 5: Online Discussion Within the M5S Community 155 Issues, Topics and Style on the Forum 156 Coding of Issues 157 Coding of Topics 159 Coding of Style and Expression of Opinion 163 Evolution of Topics and Users’ Interest 164 Discussion Networks 169 The Shape of Discussion Networks 170 The Discussion Network of the M5S 177 Discussion Network on Immigration 180 Discussion Network on 2013 Confidence Vote 184 Discussion Network on Exiting the Common Currency 189 The Everywhere Political Talk 191 References 193 Chapter 6: The M5S Community and Citizen’s Income 196 Mapping Documents in the Concept Space 198 The Concept Space 199 Term Frequency Analysis 201 The Semantic Interpretation Vector 202 The GMI Debate: Offline and Online 203 The GMI Public Debate in Italy 203 The GMI Debate Within the M5S 208 Discussion Forum: 2009–2011 211 Discussion Forum and Blog: 2011–2012 217 Discussion Forum, Blog and Parliament: 2012–2015 221 The Influence of Online Deliberation Within the M5S Community 223 References 228 Chapter 7: By the Crowd, for the People? 232 Internet-Enabled Organisation Beyond the M5S and Italy 232 Asymmetric Online Deliberation 238 Citizen User and Democracy 242 Crowd-Mediated Politics 247 References 252 Index 255