sep 29, 2016 - Dialogue Is Important, Even When It’s Impolite

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Solutions to hateful speech often come down to gatekeeping. The Huffington Post, looking to “meet the needs of the grown-up Internet,” only allows comments from verified Facebook accounts. Google Plus launched a real-name policy, barring anonymous or pseudonymous participation. Reddit bans users and subreddits that garner widespread negative attention.


When antagonistic speech facilitates voice, satire or play, it may have civic value.
But these restrictive practices are met with mixed responses. The Huffington Post continues to filter participants despite protests and angry readers who wanted to keep their Facebook life separate from discussions on the news website. Google Plus has softened its real-name policy to be more inclusive. Reddit still has trouble tamping down the creeps.

The problem persists despite gatekeeping measures because of hazy distinctions in communication. Zizi Papacharissi, a professor of communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago, distinguishes between “civility” and “politeness” online. Impolite communication is antagonistic, but unlike uncivil speech, it is still compatible with the democratic value of voice.

When antagonistic speech facilitates voice, satire or play, it may have civic value. The #AskThicke Twitter campaign — hosted by VH1 to publicize the singer’s new album — was repurposed by Twitter users to both playfully lampoon the pop star and criticize the misogyny in his lyrics.

While the #AskThicke campaign certainly became impolite, it has merit in our civil discourse.

Another example was the trending of the #YesAllWomen hashtag – cataloging the antagonisms women face daily – which became a conversation replete with impoliteness as participants debated gender inequality. However, it fostered robust conversations: uncivil perspectives were vibrantly and impolitely challenged. Voices were added to the dialogue, even when it got mean.

Ultimately, trolling blurs the line between impoliteness and incivility – it can, in its broadest definition, be either and both. And there’s no algorithm for parsing impolite and uncivil speech. The categories are muddy, dependent on context and open to interpretation. For this reason, vibrant voice is essential online. Platform moderators, diverse individuals working to curate a culture of civility, can powerfully shape the online conversation. Participants on sites can, and should, do the same.


Incivility is a difficult problem for Americans, because its underlying issues are social. But restrictive gatekeeping just serves to dampen the generative value of diverse voices engaging. The impulse to silence can be just as uncivil as the trolling that inspired it.

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