Abstract
Abstract Populism has become prevalent all across the globe. To date, however, we know too little about the ways in which populist discourse is constructed by citizens on social media. To advance the field, this study draws on a qualitative content analysis of Facebook posts by ordinary citizens in the Netherlands. The results indicate that Facebook offers a discursive opportunity structure for Dutch citizens to vent their populist discontent and to interact with like-minded others. Online populist discourse on Facebook is hostile and uncivil, predominately targeted at the elites and marginalized groups in society. By providing insights into how ordinary citizens construct the boundary between “us” and “them,” this article enhances our understanding of the construction of citizens’ populist discourse on social network sites (SNSs), and how these expressions contradict the principles of democratic communication.
Highlights
They experienced that the majority of the ordinary people is silenced by the elites who refuse to listen: “The people did not want to be a member of the EU, but they did not listen to us.”
It has been argued that the mass self-communication of people who express themselves online plays an important role in the formation of political opinions (Papacharissi, 2010; Pingree, 2007)
This study aimed to provide an in-depth understanding of how populist discourse is expressed by citizens online, and to what extent these expressions stimulate or limit a well-informed, argumentative and critical online debate
Summary
By providing insights into how ordinary citizens construct the boundary between “us” and “them,” this article enhances our understanding of the construction of citizens’ populist discourse on social network sites (SNSs), and how these expressions contradict the principles of democratic communication. Look at what is doing to our people” and “Hillary is the most corrupt person to ever run for the presidency of the United States.”. Such “us versus them” constructions can further be illustrated by a Dutch Facebook message, posted in the midst of Greece’s EU-related conflict in July 2015: “The government should spend the billions going to Greece in the healthcare of our own people.”. 343 people replied to it, mostly by emphasizing how the EU and the national government are corrupt, evil, and deprive ordinary people of their wellbeing
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