How Internet Communications are affecting (and being affected by) the Spiral of Silence: Possible Implications for Grassroots Campaigns – A Pilot Study

• Main Author: Sufyan Mohammed-Baksh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Insitute for Public Relations 2014-04-01
• Series: Public Relations Journal
• Online Access: https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2014Mohammed.pdf

This study explores the creation and growth of various online groups and communities and how they help eliminate the feeling of isolation among individuals with minority view. The focus of this study was to test the spiral of silence theory in a two-way, electronic, group-communication type of setting. The study also explored how the growth of online communities, and the subsequent ineffectiveness of the spiral of silence theory, can be used by individuals and groups with the minority or different views to start grassroots campaigns and garner support for their various causes. This study also gained insight into the problems of measuring spiral of silence. For this purpose, we studied one thread of posts on two Protest Blog Websites’ over a period of four months and found that as responses to the post increased, so did the number of search results over the period of four months.