Preventing Radicalisation, or Forcing Ideological Consent? Crises, Uncertainty Reduction and Collective Identity Negotiation in Collaborative Communities of Online Third Spaces

With regard to the recent accumulation of crisis events in Europe, scholars stress the potential of online spaces to reduce people’s uncertainty through collective identity formation, providing their members with emotional support and recognition. However, polarisation and radicalisation are mentioned as possible negative consequences of online community formation in crisis times. “Third spaces” are described as online forums where political talk emerges against the background of the primary purpose of the environment – exchanging ideas or goods and mutual support. Our article explores how the “purpose-based” collective identity of the participants of a parenting forum, a typical “third space,” is challenged with their potentially conflicting political identities in the context of strongly polarising issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. A qualitative analysis of nearly 2,500 contributions confirms that, to a certain extent, a third space constitutes an environment of cooperation and support even during major societal crises and provides space to negotiate conflicting ideological identities. However, broader societal polarisation is reflected in the forum which clearly sets boundaries to diversity, strictly excluding opinions considered extreme or unacceptable by the majority. Proponents of minority opinions are thus pushed to the margins, where they may radicalise.