The Impact of Synchronicity and Civility in Online Political Discussions on Perceptions and Intentions to Participate

Using a mixed-model factorial design, a laboratory experiment (n=153) was conducted to investigate the effects of two features of CMC-synchronicity and civility-on perceptions of online political discussions and discussants. Results indicate that the synchronous versions of the discussions were perceived as more informative and persuasive than the asynchronous versions. Discussants in the uncivil versions of the discussions were perceived as more dominant and less credible. However, neither synchronicity nor civility had a significant impact on people's intentions to participate. The results stand in contrast to those of previous content analysis research, suggesting the importance of studying perceptions in future research. The implications of the findings for online political communication are discussed.