Incivility in Online Discussion as a Collective Phenomenon: A Dynamic Systems Perspective Examining Sequences of Uncivil Messages

Drawing from dynamic systems theory, we examine how incivility is collectively constructed in an online discussion community. Using secondary data consisting of comments shared over a 3-week period to an online news community, we identified three sequences that reflect collective incivility practices. Whereas the persistent incivility sequence included a large proportion of uncivil comments, incivility occurred infrequently in the sporadic incivility sequence and not at all in the no incivility sequence. Once the persistent incivility or sporadic incivility sequences appeared, discussions were more likely to return to these sequences than the no incivility sequence. Contrary to our predictions, sequences containing incivility shaped discussion processes by depressing explicit expressions of agreement and disagreement. The results of this study demonstrate how the collective behavior of online community members contributes to the production and effects of incivility.