Between Love and Hate: Taking a Fan Studies Approach to Examining Polarisation in Online Discussion Following News Stories

Despite the potential of the Internet to enhance civic discussion through comment sections following news stories, these online discussion platforms are characterised by polarising online antagonism (Anderson et al., 2014; Coe et al., 2014). This project will argue for new theoretical perspectives on the escalation of antagonism in online debate by examining polarised interactions using fan theory. Examined in this way, this behaviour is the result of identification as a ‘fan’ of, for example, a ‘Left-wing’ or ‘Right-wing’ political perspectives. Seen through a fan theoretical lens, reactions to a story on climate change, for example, can be understood as a performance of social identity. Similarly, the escalation of antagonism to commenters of the opposing perspective can be seen as a process of ‘othering’ necessary to develop and sustain a collective identity. Seen as a function of fan-based reactions, discussion about political issues becomes less about facts and evidence and more about affective reactions to a perceived threat to collective and individual identity. This paper will argue for the benefit of a new theoretical perspective based on fan studies, to examine what drives vitriolic and polarising debate.