Media and Communication Open Access Journal | ISSN: 2183-2439 Volume 9, Issue 1 (2021) DarkDark ParticipationParticipation inin OnlineOnline Communication:Communication: TheThe WorldWorld ofof thethe WickedWicked WebWeb Editor Thorsten Quandt Media and Communication, 2021, Volume 9, Issue 1 Dark Participation in Online Communication: The World of the Wicked Web Published by Cogitatio Press Rua Fialho de Almeida 14, 2º Esq., 1070-129 Lisbon Portugal Academic Editor Thorsten Quandt (University of Münster, Germany) Available online at: www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication This issue is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY). Articles may be reproduced provided that credit is given to the original and Media and Communication is acknowledged as the original venue of publication. Table of Contents Can We Hide in Shadows When the Times are Dark? Thorsten Quandt 84–87 Uninvited Dinner Guests: A Theoretical Perspective on the Antagonists of Journalism Based on Serres’ Parasite Gerret von Nordheim and Katharina Kleinen-von Königslöw 88–98 Communities of Darkness? Users and Uses of Anti-System Alternative Media between Audience and Community Christian Schwarzenegger 99–109 What Is (Fake) News? Analyzing News Values (and More) in Fake Stories Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Ryan J. Thomas and Lauren Bishop 110–119 You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online Cameron Martel, Mohsen Mosleh and David G. Rand 120–133 From Dark to Light: The Many Shades of Sharing Misinformation Online Miriam J. Metzger, Andrew J. Flanagin, Paul Mena, Shan Jiang and Christo Wilson 134–143 Digital Civic Participation and Misinformation during the 2020 Taiwanese Presidential Election Ho-Chun Herbert Chang, Samar Haider and Emilio Ferrara 144–157 Investigating Visual Content Shared over Twitter during the 2019 EU Parliamentary Election Campaign Nahema Marchal, Lisa-Maria Neudert, Bence Kollanyi and Philip N. Howard 158–170 From Insult to Hate Speech: Mapping Offensive Language in German User Comments on Immigration Sünje Paasch-Colberg, Christian Strippel, Joachim Trebbe, and Martin Emmer 171–180 Constructive Aggression? Multiple Roles of Aggressive Content in Political Discourse on Russian YouTube Svetlana S. Bodrunova, Anna Litvinenko, Ivan Blekanov and Dmitry Nepiyushchikh 181–194 Roots of Incivility: How Personality, Media Use, and Online Experiences Shape Uncivil Participation Lena Frischlich, Tim Schatto-Eckrodt, Svenja Boberg and Florian Wintterlin 195–208 Table of Contents Advancing Research into Dark Participation Oscar Westlund 209–214 Beyond the Darkness: Research on Participation in Online Media and Discourse Claes de Vreese 215–216 Media and Communication (ISSN: 2183–2439) 2021, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages 84–87 DOI: 10.17645/mac.v9i1.4020 Editorial Can We Hide in Shadows When the Times are Dark? Thorsten Quandt Department of Communication, University of Münster, 48143 Münster, Germany; E-Mail: [email protected] Submitted: 17 January 2021 | Published: 3 February 2021 Abstract The editorial discusses the relevance of analyzing some problematic aspects of online participation in consideration of events that happened during the preparation of this thematic issue. It critically challenges the eponymous ‘dark participa- tion’ concept and its reception in the field, and calls for a deeper exploration of epistemological questions — questions that may be uneasy and difficult to answer, as they also refer to the issue of balance and scientific positioning in the face of threats to public communication and democratic ideals. Keywords dark participation; disinformation; duality; epistemology; participatory journalism; public communication; online communication Issue This editorial is part of the issue “Dark Participation in Online Communication: The World of the Wicked Web” edited by Thorsten Quandt (University of Münster, Germany). © 2021 by the author; licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribu- tion 4.0 International License (CC BY). 1. The Season of Light, the Season of Darkness bly why so many people since the original publication in 1859 could connect to its deeper meaning, especially so It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, if they found themselves in periods of profound social it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, change. Indeed, his magnificent lines sound more cur- it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, rent than ever, and they also resonate with this the- it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness. matic issue’s topic—especially as they literally refer to (Dickens, 1859, p. 1) the duality of light and darkness as two opposing posi- tions and potentials. The famous opening paragraph of Dickens’ A Tale of A figurative understanding of light and dark, refer- Two Cities masterfully describes the major conflicts ring to a larger duality of the social, is a seed concept of and extremes of a chaotic time of social and political this current issue. When being approached by Media and upheavals. Set in the years leading to the French revolu- Communication to serve as the editor of a thematic issue, tion, the historical novel is referring to a specific period I had just published an article in said journal on “dark and location (to be more precise, two specific locations: participation” (Quandt, 2018), focusing on the “bleak the eponymous two cities London and Paris)—but the flip side” (p. 18) of citizen participation in online envi- opening paragraph has gained a life of its own in pub- ronments, including phenomena like trolling, bullying, lic, (pop) culture and science. I am not a native speaker, strategic disinformation and hate campaigns. Based on but it always struck me with awe: It’s an ingenious way the strong, and sometimes even quite emotional reac- of expressing the duality of revolutionary times, and tions to this piece (which are certainly not the stan- in some ways, also of how some of our current times dard for a publication in a scientific journal), its core feel like. topic looked like a perfect candidate for deeper explo- Dickens’ opening paragraph transcends the specifics ration. Little did I know what would happen in the short of the novel’s plot and localization, and that is proba- time between the call for papers, the subsequent review Media and Communication, 2021, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages 84–87 84 process of the amazing pieces the journal received, and (disciplinary) perspective (de Vreese, 2021). Reading his the release of the issue—and how this would make both commentary as a concluding remark will certainly widen the topic (and the introductory Dickens quote) more cur- the scope of how the issues at stake can be discussed. rent than ever. In barely 18 months, the world witnessed the out- 2. Darkness, Debates and Discipline break and rapid development of a pandemic, paralleled by a confusing cacophony of voices, conspiracy theories As mentioned above, the idea for this thematic issue had and disinformation regarding the Coronavirus, some of its origin in an earlier, quite personal exploration of dark it originating from dubious sources on the web and dark participation in online environments, published in this participation in online forums. Early on in the crisis, the very journal roughly two years ago. Like this editorial, WHO labeled this an ‘infodemic’ (WHO, 2020)—a highly I chose to partially deviate from a traditional article for- contested (but yet popular) term to describe the social mat there. If you haven’t read it and still plan to do so— and communicative situation in the pandemic. Naturally, then please stop reading exactly here →⭐←, as the fol- the critics are correct: As a start, it would need to be lowing will include ‘spoilers’! called a ‘disinfodemic,’ if the core problem is intentional The piece itself was, on the surface, an exploration of falsehoods and not just an exponential growth of infor- the concept of ‘dark participation,’ which was depicted mation in a short time—and there are other limitations as a counter-concept to a ‘naïve,’ abundantly positive of this concept that cannot be discussed in a brief edi- and ‘pure’ concept of user participation discussed in torial. Yet, it still underlines the timeliness of this issue’s communication studies and journalism roughly around core ideas, which seemed to gain even more urgency in the turn of the millennium and the subsequent decade. the Coronavirus crisis. The ‘dark participation’ concept was developed in a sys- Shortly before release date, the world’s longest- tematic, yet intentionally generic way in the middle sec- standing democracy—the United States of America— tion of the piece. However, this systematic discussion of were shaken by pictures of a mob storming the Capitol, dark participation was also meant as a device to lead incited by a president who had lost the election, but the reader astray: The plan was to get the reader nod- did not accept the results of the election and called it ding her or his head and agreeing with the argument. rigged on multiple occasions (without presenting sub- The reader should fully embrace the focus on dark par- stantial proof for these claims). For that infamously ‘twit- ticipation as an innovative and convincing concept. Then, tering’ president, traditional media were primarily ‘fake in the last third of the article, it was revealed that such a news,’ and many of his supporters organized themselves one-sided debate of the ‘dark’ side would be equally mis- via social media and online platforms—the most radi- guided as the overly optimistic and normatively narrow cal ones just trusting their own sources and stirring up expectations regarding participation, and that some cru- themselves in a rather hermetic information environ- cial and balancing counter-arguments were left out on ment. While communication studies has rightfully ques- purpose to get her or him agreeing with the intended tioned the existence of “filter bubbles” in general (Bruns, position.