Participation and topics of discussion of Spaniards in the digital public sphere

! ISSN 2386-7876 – © 2016 Communication & Society, 29(4), 219-234 219 Participation and topics of discussion of Spaniards in the digital public sphere Abstract Since the seventies, in Western democracies, communication technologies and current social networks have attracted academic debate on the ability of these devices to promote an extension of the public sphere. The recent launch of Twitter, as well as other social networks, has produced an extensive discussion about their ability to promote the different dynamics of public participation to the mediated public space. This study seeks to explore the discussion on topics involving Spaniards in the digital public sphere, looking specifically at the participation in Twitter and two digital newspapers: elpais.com and elmundo.es. Through an analysis of their quantitative and qualitative content, 633 comments published on both Spanish most read online newspapers, and on their social profiles on Twitter have been studied. On the second phase, 240 Trending Topics have been collected, and their correlation with the themes of the barometers of the Center for Sociological Research (CIS) has been analyzed. Our research suggests that Spaniards do not generally discuss about their political concerns on Twitter. The main themes listed in the CIS Barometer ‒immigration, education, social issues, the government and individual parties or politicians, etc.‒ correspond to the topics registered in the online newspapers debate, but not in the social network. In general terms, the discussion of the Spaniards on Twitter is focused on soft news and the argumentation of their opinions is rather limited. Keywords Online newspapers, social networks, deliberation, Twitter, El País, El Mundo, trending topics 1. Introduction The new role played by users in a wider and more participatory public sphere through social networks and online journalism has become the subject academic interest since last decades (Waisbord, 2012; Castells, 2009; Norris, 2012; Hanitzsch, Hanusch & Lauerer, 2016). For instance, among the classical questions for scholarly discussion, Dahlberg (2001) indicated that the Internet has the potential to expand such a public Dafne Calvo [email protected] Researcher in Journalism & PhD Student. Faculty of Humanities. Journalism Area. University of Valladolid. Spain. Eva Campos-Domínguez [email protected] Senior Lecturer of Journalism. Faculty of Humanities. Journalism Area. University of Valladolid. Spain. Submitted June 24, 2015 Approved January 13, 2016 © 2016 Communication & Society ISSN 0214-0039 E ISSN 2386-7876 doi: 10.15581/003.29.4.219-234 www.communication-society.com 2016 – Vol. 29(4) pp. 219-234 How to cite this article: Calvo, D. & Campos-Domínguez, E. (2016). Participation and topics of discussion of Spaniards in the digital public sphere. Communication & Society 29(4), 219- 234. This study is part of the activities developed by Research Group NUTECO from the University of Valladolid. The authors want to express their gratefulness to Soundous Bouchouar, who helped us with English revision. Calvo, D. & Campos-Domínguez, E. Participation and topics of discussion of Spaniards in the digital public sphere ISSN 2386-7876 – © 2016 Communication & Society 29(4), 219-234 220 space; however, this growth is influenced by factors such as the limitations of Internet access in some areas due to insufficient infrastructure. On the other hand, in Mazzoleni’s opinion (2001), participatory democracy is opposed to the lack of interest of many citizens towards political, economic, and social issues. Civic participation in democratic systems is not a contemporary precept whose appearance necessarily involves the use of the Internet. In fact, Held (1991) considers that guaranteeing public debate where people express their own preferences is a tradition that has remained since classical democracies. Thus, the choice of this digital context in order to perform an analysis of the public sphere does not provide an exemption from the study of classical theories about the role of media in democracy, which were written before the advent of the Internet. With this analysis, we intend to contribute to the larger debate on the impact of ICTs in the disappearance of the central role of the media from people’s concerns (Waisbord, 2012). Furthermore, we wonder if the characteristics of this new Net debate are able to achieve Habermas’ ideal of public discussion between divergent opinions that aim to reach an agreement (Dahlberg, 2007). Exploring journalistic interventionism (Hanitzsch, 2007), this paper seeks to enquire the analysis on whether the public space on the Internet, which has not been influenced by newspapers, means a change in the participatory and deliberative behaviour of citizens. As a consequence, we have studied the main concerns expressed via social networks without the filter of the media and, by extension, without editorial hierarchy of news, bearing in mind the question raised by Davis (1999): Whether the greater amount of information accessible through the Internet generates more ethical commitment on the part of its users. 2. Background Scholarly discussion has focused on the extent to which digital tools facilitate civic participation, without the monopoly of traditional newspapers, since the emergence of ICTs in the 1970s. In this context, authors such as Dahlberg (2001) or Fuchs (2013) consider it necessary to reclaim the classical definition of public sphere proposed by Habermas (1962), so as to prove its application to the new space in the Internet. The space on the Internet where different social groups interact and communicate has been called “virtual” or “online community” (Fuster, 2012b). Meanwhile, Rheingold (2000), who was among the first authors to use this term in 1993, identifies a virtual community as a dynamic entity in the social network space where users meet and exchange information and knowledge. Although conditions have changed since the early theories of O’Reilly (2005), Norris (2012) argues that the functions of the mass media had been overtaken by the interactive communication of social media. These platforms have been designed to allow not only individual interactions, but also more complex ones. Global platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, as well as their equivalent social networking sites in different local areas, clearly reflect the public face of social media (Norris, 2012). Therefore, recent studies have focused on the phenomenon of social networks as tools capable of developing communities, rather than on the informative intermediation in newspapers. Taking this context into account, the main objective of this article is the study of deliberation as a form of participation in social platforms of Spanish media. To do this, we analyze the relation between Trending Topics and issues published in CIS Barometer in order to answer if political concerns engross debate in decentralized social networks. However, results show that these hashtags are not always related to political, economical and social affairs but also with sports, public figures and programs broadcasted in mass media. Calvo, D. & Campos-Domínguez, E. Participation and topics of discussion of Spaniards in the digital public sphere ISSN 2386-7876 – © 2016 Communication & Society 29(4), 219-234 221 In a second phase, we investigate comments of Internet users posted in digital newspapers (El Mundo and El País) and in their social profiles on Twitter (@elmundoes and @el_pais) with the goal of comparing with characteristics of Habermas’ concept of public sphere. Firstly, we analyze the coherence of messages. In general terms, dialogue is focused on the main topic discussion. Secondly, we check the interaction between users and we point that there are a scanty interpellation, but replies normally disagree with their interlocutor, which is a dynamic close to Habermasʼ normative model of public sphere. In a third section, argumentation is considered, where conclusions point that conversations are far from reach a rational-critical ideal. Finally, we explore topics of most commented news in social networks and online newspapers, and their similarity with CIS Barometer and Trending Topics. Data determine that the pieces are more related with the sociological survey, even if they are published in Twitter. Theoretical frame of this fieldwork is developed in following sections. 2.1. Participation of citizens via web tools Participation, understood as a public statement of actions and opinions of citizens, is considered a basic element in Western democracies: it is one of the basic conditions for citizens to organize and include themselves in political life (Held, 1991). The Internet has the potential to create the scenario for this participation and facilitate the interaction among its members. Hartz-Karp, Balnaves, & Sullivan (2012) argue that the Internet is increasingly being considered a way to connect people with politics. Expectations for this new technology could result in greater ethical commitment on the part of its users, a growing interest in the debate, and a closer connection between politicians and their electorate (Hartz-Karp et al., 2012). However, the results of academic research differ on the relationship between users and the tools provided by the Internet, ranging from cybernetic optimism to technological scepticism. Optimists such as Lévy (2004), welcomes the effects of new technologies, as they provide users more freedom of expression. He argues that the forums launched in the early years of the century, such as www.politik-digital.de, yougov.com or politique-digitale.fr¸ have allowed people to deliberate with other citizens. Lévy further argues that ICTs also increase users’ interest in public affairs and strengthen their capacity to organize socially. Along these lines, Shirky (2011) states that free and global access to the dissemination of information has resulted in greater freedom of assembly: social tools provide a wider range of users with the necessary tools to share, cooperate, and coordinate their actions: the author takes the protest against a fraudulent election in Moldova, coordinated by text message, Facebook, and Twitter, who suppose the loss of power or the Communist Party as an example. The online communities created from these platforms can be understood as a sign of the reinforcement of civil society, which contributes to the creation of a more participative public debate (Fuster, 2012b). Social media has become an essential part of the actual lifestyle, institutions, activists, NGOs, citizens, etc. (Shirky 2011). Consequently, Papacharissi (2002) defines the “essence of technology” as the ability of a network to connect users from different countries and cultures: the virtual public sphere reflects new dynamics of political discussion which involve the participation of a larger and more diverse number of agents. She acknowledges that the majority of the online political debate seems no different in form from face-to-face interaction; however, ICTs have managed to virtually gather people who otherwise would have never meet to discuss politics (Papacharissi, 2002). Hartz-Karp et al. agree with Papacharissi, arguing that the development of relations between users, their coordination, and their cooperation do not depend on online participation. This is because all of them can also occur face to face, but “it rarely happens Calvo, D. & Campos-Domínguez, E. Participation and topics of discussion of Spaniards in the digital public sphere ISSN 2386-7876 – © 2016 Communication & Society 29(4), 219-234 222 due to the cost, time constraints and scheduling conflicts” (Hartz-Karp et al., 2012: 215-216). Online deliberation may therefore remove barriers for the engagement of citizens in political issues. Others are more sceptical. Hartz-Karp et al. (2012) warn about the unlikelihood of a rapid change in the mechanisms for cooperation and decision-making. According to these authors, the changes generated by social networking sites are reflected on the role of citizens and institutions in the public sphere. The idealization of the autonomy of citizens on the Internet has been criticized by Fuchs (2013), who thinks that the use of social networks could be employed as an instrument for coordination and cooperation between citizens, but will never replace direct action, which involve being physically present in a particular space and time (see also Vicente- Mariño, 2013). Gladwell (2010) adds that actions and participations channelled through the Internet represent neither an effort nor citizens’ real demands for political decisions. Therefore, political participation through social networks does not succeed “by motivating people to make real sacrifice, but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make real sacrifice” (Gladwell, 2010: 4). He illustrates his statement with the economical effort of Internet profiles that donate money to charity in Dafur: “The Facebook page of the Save Darfur Coalition has 1,282,339 members, who have donated an average of nine cents apiece” (Gladwell, 2010: 4). According to Davis (1999), mobilization through the Internet is more an exception than a rule, even though some cases of citizen participation and organization occur and must be admired and supported. However, there are very few and sometimes do not result from the use of new technology. Campos-Domínguez and Silván (2012) do not consider the effect that ICTs have caused on the participation of citizens in public affairs significant; although they do not deny the modest contributions made to date as well as the possible new ones. They also agree with Davis that the researchers’ pessimism about the potential of the Web is a reflection of the reality of human behaviour (Davis, 1999). 2.2. Deliberation in the digital public sphere The analysis of the opinions expressed by netsurfers and their interrelation with statements posted on several platforms is linked to the debate on the use of deliberative instruments provided by the Internet. In other words, researchers are analyzing whether the selection of online information done by users creates a polarization that is detrimental to deliberation or a mobilization that is beneficial to democracy (Sterrett 2012). Papacharissi (2002) can be found among the authors who exhibit a cyber-optimistic attitude to online deliberation. She values the Internet as an instrument to provide users with the necessary tools to interact with people from different regions, cultures or points of view during the debate. Likewise, Kim, Hsu and Gil De Zúñiga (2013) claim that interpersonal relations established in social networks enable dialogue via the Net. They insist that online debates have positive effects, especially for introverts and for those who are less politically active due to, among other reasons, the possibility of remaining anonymous. Using the data of the presidential election in USA in 2008, they show that “individuals low in extraversion tended to report higher levels of network heterogeneity when they reported greater amounts of social media use compared to those who are high in extraversion.” (Kim et al., 2013: 508) Campbell and Kwak (2011) consider that the levels of participation only increase when the links between different profiles show similar ideas. Therefore, both people who know each other and strangers tend to avoid the conflict in their political conversations (Eveland, Morey, & Hutchens, 2011). On the other hand, Sunstein (2009) argues that, when users Calvo, D. & Campos-Domínguez, E. Participation and topics of discussion of Spaniards in the digital public sphere ISSN 2386-7876 – © 2016 Communication & Society 29(4), 219-234 223 identify similar ideas on other net surfers, they tend to adopt a more radical position. It can be assumed that an effect of “polarization” occurs during debates i.e., users tend to adopt more radical points in order to confront opposite views so as not to seem vulnerable to the political tendencies of other users. Thus, participants tend to have more extreme ideas and join people with similar ideologies at the end of the debate. In the same vein, Wojcieszak points in her study that “among the 181 deliberators, the vast majority (88%) reported that their views had polarized during the discussion” and “substantially fewer participants either said that their views had not changed (7%)” or “reported moderating their priors (9%)” (2011:606). Some authors suggest that selective web search is related to the development and cognitive reinforcement of individual opinions (Brundidge, 2010). Castells (2009) argues that people tend to select the information that specifically supports the decisions they were previously willing to take. He considers that the ability to choose between opposite pieces of information increases with the ability to use web tools appropriately. Dahlberg (2007) talks of “fragmentation” as the division of the Internet into groups with related political ideas. This attitude leads to the creation of small, uniform, and isolated departments where conflicts may be avoided thanks to the lack of interaction. Thus, although Internet has provided new possibilities of obtaining a wider interaction among people without barriers of space and time, other facts related to the behaviour of netsurfers should be studied in order to examine the quality of the debate on the Net. Moreover, although the methods of this investigation are similar for Twitter and cybermedias, it should be noted that each of these platforms have their own characteristics. According to Piscitelli (2005), the Net does not have a centralized structure, so the management of the information may depend on how this information is organized by platforms. Furthermore, social networks and digital newspapers present specific utilities for different public: in the last decades, because of the disappearance of traditional readers, electronic media has launched profiles in Twitter to allure younger users, among other characteristics (Lara, 2008). 2.3. The role of the media in the Internet Waisbord (2012) indicates that new technological developments have threatened the central role of the media in public affairs. While political communication has granted the newspapers with a privileged position in the dissemination of information to society, researchers have warned of the possible reduction of the power journalists possess in this new online public sphere. The establishment of social media offers equal opportunities in the expression of speech and access to the debate to all users (Freelon, 2010). Gladwell (2010) argues that the emergence of the Internet, a non-hierarchical system with no authority exercising control, produces a horizontal and decentralized structure. Criticism to the Internet as a public sphere also comes from the increasing but still limited evolution of its use in politics (Vicente-Mariño, 2013). According to a study, 28% of the themes that became Trending Topics in the social network Twitter in 2010 were related to entertainment, while 3% dealt with politics. The most used hashtags dealt with music and personal life (Fuchs, 2013). Fuchs considers that as a consequence of this asymmetry in topics, the democratic capacity of this microblogging platform is limited due to the stratified attention and the specific characteristics of the capitalistic culture, which gives greater significance to what users find enjoyable and funny. Similarly, Davis (1999) considers that providing users with greater control and broader access to information with the Internet should not necessarily imply that their interests and political engagement increase. Calvo, D. & Campos-Domínguez, E. Participation and topics of discussion of Spaniards in the digital public sphere ISSN 2386-7876 – © 2016 Communication & Society 29(4), 219-234 224 A consequence of the decentralization of the web is the disappearance of an “inadvertent audience”, which Waisbord (2012) describes as the audience that discovers public affairs by unintentionally finding information about them. In this case, the problem that the Internet audience should face in order to obtain information about public affairs would not be the lack of information available, but the lack of interest to find it. Sartori (1998) believes that citizens’ lack of political concern comes from the habits and attitudes acquired with the use of television. According to him, a correct and interactive use of the Internet requires a mental capacity activated beforehand. Nevertheless, the exposure to audiovisual media has caused the arrival of culturally illiterate people who use the Internet to consume banal information, related, among other topics, to sports or pornography. 3. Research objectives and methods Digital public sphere in Spain shows an interesting context of study, since the political and social situation of the country has led to increasing feelings of mistrust and disaffection towards institutions and their representatives (Hallin & Mancini, 2004). Furthermore, technology in information and communication in Spain has been an interesting case of study because of the important role they play in political, economical and social issues during the 15M movement, thanks to their power of mobilization and protest (Fuster, 2012a; Sampedro & Lobera, 2014). Taking these issues into account and in relation to the themes set out in the literature review, we point to three different objectives: a) detect the extent or type of participation of users through social platforms, b) analyze what is the quality of the debate generated in the digital public sphere, and c) examine what discussion topics generate greater public activity on the social networks and online newspapers. By registering data from online newspapers and social networks, we have obtained publications related to the topics of discussion and the quality of dialogues on the Internet. Thus, we have analyzed a total of 240 Trending Topics and compared them to the 10 concerns of Spaniards according to the barometers of CIS. We have obtained 633 messages of users, 320 from the online newspapers and 313 from Twitter from the most discussed topics in the corresponding Twitter profiles of El País and El Mundo. In 3 cases, the sample is not larger because the total number of registered tweets does not reach 20. During the first phase, we focus on the topics covered by the barometers of the CIS and Trending Topics. We test whether there were similarities between them, and if there is any correlation with the most commented topics on online newspapers and their social media profiles. Hence, we take the most regular top ten concerns of Spaniards in the barometers of the CIS from April to July 2014 –there are no CIS publications in August and September –. These themes were compared to the 40 Trending Topics collected during each of these months. The concerns expressed in Twitter were always collected during the same days of the week –Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday‒ from 22.00 to 23.00, when the largest Internet audience can be found, according to the 16th AIMC (Media Research Association) survey held among Internet users in February 2014. During last decades, CIS has been carrying out periodic studies about the traditional mass media in Spain (Alcobendas, 1992). Mainly, scholars have been using these data as an information source in order to assess the influence of mass media on the concerns published on CIS as topics. However, the exploration of the relation between mass media and CIS is emerging, and this investigation attempts to approach the relationship between the Trending Topic in Twitter and the Spanish survey. At this point, it should be noticed that the classical theory of agenda-setting (McCombs & Shaw, 1972) demonstrates the influence that mass media have in setting the parameters of public debate. Insights from this research can lead us to expect the topics prevalent on mass media platforms will be more closely correlated with the CIS. However, we want to check Calvo, D. & Campos-Domínguez, E. Participation and topics of discussion of Spaniards in the digital public sphere ISSN 2386-7876 – © 2016 Communication & Society 29(4), 219-234 225 how decentralization of the Internet (Waisbord, 2012), which is represented by Trending Topics, affects the preferences of users: if they continue discussing political, economic or social topics in the CIS, or they opt for another themes related with entertainment. To put in other words, we ask if media fail to introduce their issues on the agenda of the users on Twitter. However, in line with the literature review, it should be noted that the probability of participation in newspapers reports and not news content are different: when the journalist who decides about information production, as in the media, the resource users and roles that can be purchased to select their preferences are limited (Sanchez-Gonzalez & Alonso, 2012). Therefore, this may affect the results of our analysis, in which we compare news with Trending Topics and CIS survey topics. On the other hand, we analyze the characteristics of comments published by Internet users. To reach this goal, we identified discussions in Twitter and digital newspapers for four days in April and four days in September: on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. For each day, we select the new with more comments in the front page of the online newspapers mentioned before and the tweet with the largest number of replies published in the last 24 hours on @elmundoes and @el_pais. We recorded 20 comments written in each piece, except in cases where the number of messages does not reach the maximum, as previously indicated. From each of the comments registered, we analyzed different features. The relationship with the piece –coherent comment or incoherent– their attitude to the issue of news –comical, critical, favourable or unfavourable– and their level of reasoning – non-reasoned comments, argumentative comments and argumentative comments with evidences– were the selected variables that allowed us to explore different results in this particular study, as it is detailed below. Choosing Twitter as tool of participation of the newspapers is due to the appropriation of social networks that traditional newspapers have done, so they attempt to develop its potential, as Sánchez-Gonzalez and Alonso (2012) indicated. However, according to the same authors, it should be noted that these social networks create their own virtual communities in many cases. These groups do not have the same behaviour as media’s readers, so it should be remarked that the kind of participation depends on the attitude of diverse sort of netsurfers of social media (Davis, 1999). Thus, we select the news depending on the comments they have because this criterion is more related with the one studied in this article: deliberation, not other passive forms of political action, such as being informed. Despite of the limitations of this methodology, it affords us to obtain empirical data that we organize in relation to the structure or the theoretical part and research objectives. 4. Results and discussion 4.1. Trending Topics are related to sports, entertainment and public figures We have faced some difficulties when identifying coincidences between Twitter trends and the main concerns of Spaniards expressed in the CIS’s barometers, collected from the information given by the platforms during six months. This is due to the fact that the concerns of the Barometer are expressed in general items, while Trending Topics refer to more specific topics. Thus, the indicators of the main concerns of Spaniards rarely vary from one month to another, also in European Parliament elections (March, 2014). According to the citizens, “Unemployment”, “Corruption and tax evasion”, “Economic issues”, “Political parties, politics, and politicians in general”, “Health”, “Education”, “Social issues”, “Immigration”, “Cutbacks” and “The government, political parties, and specific politicians” are among the ten main problems of Spain and occupy the same position almost every month. It is only in Calvo, D. & Campos-Domínguez, E. Participation and topics of discussion of Spaniards in the digital public sphere ISSN 2386-7876 – © 2016 Communication & Society 29(4), 219-234 226 June when “The government, political parties and specific politician” is replaced by “Problems related to job-quality” in the ranking. Table 1. Example of an analysis table Source: own elaboration Trending Topics tend to switch with more frequency, since they show different topics every day. Furthermore, the results obtained from the CIS and Twitter show slight coincidence, as the topics of the Barometer are usually more open and they can include in their statements the specific proposals posted on the social network. Hence, trends such as #DeclaracioUnilateralIndependencia (#UnilateralStatementIndependence), Gonzalez* Pons (sic.), #bankianomanipulesmas (#bankiadonotmanipulateanymore), Carlos Fabra or #GallardónDimisión (#GallardonResignation) could be classified within “Political parties, politics, and politicians in general”, “Corruption and tax evasion” or “Economic problems”. However, this is not the most common type of Trending Topics. In our record we have been able to observe a large number of comments dealing mainly with sports –#AtletiBarca, Unicaja– leisure, entertainment, and users’ personal information –#PelículasConBerenjena (#FilmsWithAubergine), #MiPreguntaTontaEs (#MySillyQuestionIs) – public figures –Hugh Jackman, Mariló Montero– programs broadcasted in mass media –#RioEnCuatro (#RioInCuatro), #UltimaHoraFinalSV (#LastHourSVFinal)–, etc. In a tangential relation to politics, we observe Trending Topics dealing with parodies and humour about specific politicians, such as #InventaUnaMentiraSobrePabloIglesias (#MakeUpALieAboutPabloIglesias), #RajoyMariquita (#SissyRajoy). Therefore, while CIS’s barometers normally deal with political, social and economic issues, Spain’s most popular tweets are related to soft news and infotainment. In summary, the type of participation of users through social platforms is not always related to political, economical and social affairs. These results place doubt on the extent to which social media is capable of involving people in political debates. The data show that a virtual public sphere is not essential to accomplish a political debate, but it depends on different factors, as the platform in which people decide to sign in. Although in a tentative way, it is possible to suppose that only netsurfers who are previously interested in politics decide to participate in digital newspapers and comment in their news, more related to CIS Barometer (Davis, 1999). These results may not be necessarily considered as a negative factor of a democratic discussion. According to Mansbridge (1999: 214), “snort of derision” is also a “political act”. The author states that “everyday talk” should be recognize as a part of deliberation, as in democracy is essential to incorporate citizens in the centre of public arena. Thus, concepts of “good” and “bad” topics of discussion must be heavily revised, and Habermas’ conception, 22:00 08/04/14 CIS Concerns Trending Topics 1 Unemployment #wewanttovote 2 Corruption and tax evasion Come on Dortmund 3 Economic issues #UnilateralStatementIndependence 4 Political parties, politics, and politicians in general #reAMUNTada 5 Health #DebatConsultaTV3 6 Education Pepe and Illarra 7 Social Issues #ABailarEH 8 Immigration Reus 9 Cutbacks Marta Rovira 10 The Government, political parties, and politicians in general Signal Iduna Park Calvo, D. & Campos-Domínguez, E. Participation and topics of discussion of Spaniards in the digital public sphere ISSN 2386-7876 – © 2016 Communication & Society 29(4), 219-234 227 which works as normative model in this analysis, is not the only valid interpretation of deliberation. 4.2. Quality of the debate: coherence and opposition are frequent, argumentation is scarce 4.2.1. Tendency to thematic coherence This analysis establishes evidence for the high degree of coherence present in the comments in relation to the pieces of news offered by media. This ratio of coherence remained consistent regardless of the platform or media examined. Thus, 70% is reached in the case of El País online; 80% in the online newspaper El Mundo; 83.4% in the social profile @el_pais; and 84% in @elmundoes. In general terms, users’ contributions related to the piece represent 79.3% of the sample, while 20.5% are unrelated comments. In fact, only in specific cases, the number of incoherent comments are as significant such as in “Bárcenas extends ‘PP black money’ to all provinces and regions,” from elpais.com, where 65% of comments had no relation with the piece of news, or “Felipe VI in his debut at the UN: ‘Count on Spain to defend democracy in the world’” from @el_pais, where the number of unrelated comments reached 50%. After taking the variable of users’ attitude into consideration, we find a significant difference between the comic mood in incoherent comments (23.3%) and in coherent comments (11.8%). However, while critic messages are usually coherent (11.8%), incoherent critiques are non-existent (0%). These data could be related to Sustein’s (2010) theory, which states that a set of brief comments tends to reinforce the majority’s dynamic in a online conversation. Having a rational attitude and focusing on discussion topics are two of the characteristics of the deliberative model of democracy described by Freelon (2010), who is inspired in Habermas’ theory, as the author recognizes. This is not the only prototype to measure dialogue on the Net and the existence of communitarian and liberal individualist model should be taken into consideration in further research. Other features of this communicative model pointed by the author, such as rational-critical argument, public issue focus, inter-ideological questioning, and inter-ideological reciprocity, are included in other sections. This normative model helps us to study the quality of de debate, understating this as a closer approach to the indicators of Freelon (2010). 4.2.2. Opposition is the most common attitude among the interactions The results of analyzing the users’ dialogues on online newspapers and social networks show minority number or interactions, as 57.5% of the pieces of news do not have any interpellation. Among comments with answer, opposition (19.7%) is more common than replies in favour of exposed arguments (8.7%). It is also shown a difference between platforms, as online newspapers have a higher number answers with a more focused aim. 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