Abstrakti
Millions of people use online discussion systems daily to share their opinions, knowledge, and feelings with others. At the same time, constructive online discussions can be hindered by both uncivil conduct and efforts to suppress it. This implies that interventions in uncivil discussion should be designed carefully.
This thesis supports designing for critical and practical functionality in user interface (UI) mechanisms intended to intervene in uncivil online discussion. Critical functionality refers to provoking reflection, discussion, imagination, appreciation of complexity, and consideration of new perspectives. This is useful for problem finding and nudging people to act in different ways. Practical functionality, on the other hand, refers to problem solving, here, mitigating incivility.
The thesis approaches the issue by conducting Critical Design of affect labeling UI interventions in uncivil online discussion, particularly focusing on news commenting. Critical Design refers to creating designs that may not be solutions but rather provoke discussion about the ethics of design, reveal potentially hidden agendas and values, and propose alternative design values. Affect labeling is seen as a promising strategy where the emotions present in the content are explicated, which, based on psychological emotion theories, is expected to have a calming effect.
The research resulted in four scientific publications. The research included ten interviews with Finnish journalists about four critical affect labeling UI intervention design proposals, as well as two international online surveys in which a total of 687 online news commenters reacted to a total of 14 intervention designs.
The thesis contributes relevant design aspects and dimensions for Critical Design. For example, the “Practical—Critical” dimension, which refers to whether the intervention should encourage a simple change in behavior or trigger a deeply reflective response to the intervention design. It also contributes knowledge on the user-perceived characteristics of high-quality. For example, online news commenters believe a high-quality UI intervention helps them to avoid reading uncivil comments and posting comments that they regret.
Overall, the thesis advances design of UI interventions in uncivil online discussion with a critical voice and contributes more generally to literature on design of online discussion systems.
This thesis supports designing for critical and practical functionality in user interface (UI) mechanisms intended to intervene in uncivil online discussion. Critical functionality refers to provoking reflection, discussion, imagination, appreciation of complexity, and consideration of new perspectives. This is useful for problem finding and nudging people to act in different ways. Practical functionality, on the other hand, refers to problem solving, here, mitigating incivility.
The thesis approaches the issue by conducting Critical Design of affect labeling UI interventions in uncivil online discussion, particularly focusing on news commenting. Critical Design refers to creating designs that may not be solutions but rather provoke discussion about the ethics of design, reveal potentially hidden agendas and values, and propose alternative design values. Affect labeling is seen as a promising strategy where the emotions present in the content are explicated, which, based on psychological emotion theories, is expected to have a calming effect.
The research resulted in four scientific publications. The research included ten interviews with Finnish journalists about four critical affect labeling UI intervention design proposals, as well as two international online surveys in which a total of 687 online news commenters reacted to a total of 14 intervention designs.
The thesis contributes relevant design aspects and dimensions for Critical Design. For example, the “Practical—Critical” dimension, which refers to whether the intervention should encourage a simple change in behavior or trigger a deeply reflective response to the intervention design. It also contributes knowledge on the user-perceived characteristics of high-quality. For example, online news commenters believe a high-quality UI intervention helps them to avoid reading uncivil comments and posting comments that they regret.
Overall, the thesis advances design of UI interventions in uncivil online discussion with a critical voice and contributes more generally to literature on design of online discussion systems.
| Alkuperäiskieli | Englanti |
|---|---|
| Julkaisupaikka | Tampere |
| Kustantaja | Tampere University |
| ISBN (elektroninen) | 978-952-03-3133-7 |
| ISBN (painettu) | 978-952-03-3132-0 |
| Tila | Julkaistu - 2023 |
| OKM-julkaisutyyppi | G5 Artikkeliväitöskirja |
Julkaisusarja
| Nimi | Tampere University Dissertations - Tampereen yliopiston väitöskirjat |
|---|---|
| Vuosikerta | 893 |
| ISSN (painettu) | 2489-9860 |
| ISSN (elektroninen) | 2490-0028 |