On the use of play theory in analyses of online public commentary

Abstract

The concept of play mediates between deliberation as a mode of reason and resistance as a mode of culture, thus opening a way to think about hostile comment (e.g., ‘flaming’) on online news forums as normal patterns of behaviour, instead of a departure from the received view of how citizens ought to consider matters of public interest. The play concept corresponds with current thinking around the notion of cultural citizenship. To illustrate the relevance of play theory in the analysis of online political discourse, this article uses an example from recent posts concerning the Protection of Information Bill (POIB) in the online site of the South African Mail & Guardian newspaper. The cogency of play theory to the concept of citizenship is argued through a discussion of how citizenship has been understood from the 1930s to the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the improved capacities of information and communications technologies (ICTs) made online deliberation a normal site for citizenship to be exercised.