Computer-Mediated Political Communication: The USENET and Political Communities

Social and political groups can facilitate the transmission of information and the formation of political attitudes. We employ the logic of group formation to examine electronic communities. Do electronic groups form cohesive social groups exhibiting the characteristics of traditional physical groups such as churches and peers? We conduct a content analysis of 5,611 USENET messages. The messages are analyzed for the following behaviors: political content, group maintenance, and recruitment. We find that most political USENET groups demonstrate the behavioral characteristics one would be expect of a socially cohesive group. We also find that liberal or left-wing political groups are less active and more poorly organized.