Comment Space by Geoffrey D. B. Glass M.A., Simon Fraser University, 2008 B.Sc., University of Toronto, 1995 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Communication Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology Geoffrey D. B. Glass 2015 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2015 This thesis is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/. Approval Name: Geoffrey Glass Degree: Doctor of Philosophy (Communication) Title: Comment Space Examining Committee: Chair: Frederik Lesage Assistant Professor Andrew Feenberg Senior Supervisor Professor Stuart Poyntz Supervisor AssociateProfessor Maria Bakardjieva Supervisor Professor Faculty of Communication and Culture University of Calgary Richard Smith Internal Examiner Professor School of Communication Greg Elmer External Examiner Professor Radio TV Arts Ryerson University by video conference Date Defended/Approved: November 18, 2015 ii Abstract Reader comments are an online communication format defined by their marginality relative to a primary news or blog article. To investigate their distinctive technical features and social dynamics, I studied large-scale discussions in response to articles about two stories: the death of Aaron Swartz, and the outing of Edward Snowden as the NSA leaker. Using frame analysis and drawing on Hannah Arendt’s theories of judgment and public action, I describe how the these comments by ordinary people give meaning to political action and define a space of political legitimacy. iii Acknowledgements I wish to thank Drs. Andrew Feenberg, Maria Bakardjieva and Stuart Poyntz for their patience and insight. This research was assisted by a grant from the Social Sciences Research Council of Canada. Above all, I think my wife, Cindy Xin, for her brilliance and support, and my son Julian for many good conversations. Thank you. iv Table of Contents Approval...........................................................................................................................ii Abstract...........................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................iv Table of Contents.............................................................................................................v List of Tables..................................................................................................................viii List of Figures................................................................................................................viii Glossary..........................................................................................................................ix Chapter 1: Introduction.....................................................................................................1 Terminology.................................................................................................................4 Chapter 2: Reader Comments..........................................................................................6 Defining Reader Comments and Existing Research....................................................6 Reader Comments as Distinct Format.......................................................................11 Genealogy.................................................................................................................14 Relationship to a Primary Article................................................................................20 Surges of Attention....................................................................................................22 Technical Design........................................................................................................26 Fragmentation & Difference.......................................................................................29 Interpretation.............................................................................................................32 Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework.................................................................................36 Democracy and Publics.............................................................................................36 Space and Action.......................................................................................................39 Comment Spaces......................................................................................................44 Chapter 4: Preliminary Study..........................................................................................47 First Attempt: Canadian Copyright Bill.......................................................................47 Second Attempt: Most Commented Copyright Articles...............................................49 Third Attempt: Revised Coding Scheme....................................................................51 Fourth Attempt: Aaron Swartz....................................................................................55 Chapter 5: Method..........................................................................................................60 Methodological Challenges in Analyzing Reader Comments.....................................60 Studying Cases.........................................................................................................62 Frame Analysis..........................................................................................................64 Site Selection.............................................................................................................70 The Discussions........................................................................................................75 Exchange Analysis.....................................................................................................76 Ethics.........................................................................................................................80 Chapter 6: Comment System Designs...........................................................................82 Ars Technica..............................................................................................................84 v CNN...........................................................................................................................86 The Guardian.............................................................................................................87 Lessig v.2...................................................................................................................87 The Volokh Conspiracy..............................................................................................88 The New York Times..................................................................................................88 Slashdot.....................................................................................................................89 Reading vs Rating.....................................................................................................92 Chapter 7: The Death of Aaron Swartz...........................................................................94 Swartz Case Statistics...............................................................................................96 Swartz Frame Definitions...........................................................................................97 Ratings Notation......................................................................................................100 Lessig v.2.................................................................................................................101 The New York Times................................................................................................104 CNN.........................................................................................................................108 Slashdot...................................................................................................................112 Ars Technica............................................................................................................116 The Volokh Conspiracy............................................................................................121 Comparison of Swartz Case Frames.......................................................................129 Chapter 8: Edward Snowden Revealed........................................................................135 Snowden Case Statistics.........................................................................................135 Snowden Frame Definitions.....................................................................................136 CNN.........................................................................................................................138 The Guardian...........................................................................................................143 The New York Times................................................................................................147 Slashdot...................................................................................................................153 Ars Technica............................................................................................................158