트위터에서 일어나는 정치적 담론활동에 대한 탐색적 연구: 2010년 6·2지방선거 관련 트윗글 내용 분석을 중심으로

An Exploratory Study on Twitter as a Sphere of Political Discussion: Content Analysis of Tweets during the 6·2 Local Election in 2010

This study analyzed how people made use of Twitter (a micro-blogging service) to participate in the political process of 6·2 local elections. We collected tweet messages concerning local elections, which were posted between May 17th and June 1st in 2010, and examined the following 4 areas : tweet messages posted by users, conversations with the candidates for the mayor of Seoul, sharing information through Twitter, and the quality of deliberations. The tweet messages that most frequently posted during the election were "messages to share information," followed by "everyday conversations," and "expressions of their intentions," such as to encourage others to vote and support or oppose some candidates. It was found that the "retweet" function was heavily used to share information regarding the major election issues such as the "free school-meal program" and the "4 river restoration project." Users" conversations with the candidates for mayor of Seoul turned out to function primarily to increase the sense of closeness rather than to obtain policy information. Regarding the quality of deliberations on the Twitter, the degree of topic relevance was high as contents of the most tweet messages were related to election issues. The level of tolerance was also high, as swear words, demeaning expressions, and emotionally laden criticisms were rarely found. More than half of the tweet messages contained evidence or rationales that support the arguments, while the remaining tweet messages contained no supporting evidence or rationales. In about 95% of the cases, tweet messages were written in a way that supports the original tweet messages, while less then 5% opposed to the original messages, which suggests that the users may have little opportunity to be exposed to opposing views or diverse opinions.

This study analyzed how people made use of Twitter (a micro-blogging service) to participate in the political process of 6·2 local elections. We collected tweet messages concerning local elections, which were posted between May 17th and June 1st in 2010, and examined the following 4 areas : tweet messages posted by users, conversations with the candidates for the mayor of Seoul, sharing information through Twitter, and the quality of deliberations. The tweet messages that most frequently posted during the election were "messages to share information," followed by "everyday conversations," and "expressions of their intentions," such as to encourage others to vote and support or oppose some candidates. It was found that the "retweet" function was heavily used to share information regarding the major election issues such as the "free school-meal program" and the "4 river restoration project." Users" conversations with the candidates for mayor of Seoul turned out to function primarily to increase the sense of closeness rather than to obtain policy information. Regarding the quality of deliberations on the Twitter, the degree of topic relevance was high as contents of the most tweet messages were related to election issues. The level of tolerance was also high, as swear words, demeaning expressions, and emotionally laden criticisms were rarely found. More than half of the tweet messages contained evidence or rationales that support the arguments, while the remaining tweet messages contained no supporting evidence or rationales. In about 95% of the cases, tweet messages were written in a way that supports the original tweet messages, while less then 5% opposed to the original messages, which suggests that the users may have little opportunity to be exposed to opposing views or diverse opinions.