Active spectating in the digital public sphere: A qualitative exploration

Questions asked (sometimes the conversation flowed in such a way that certain questions needed not be asked)

Tell us a bit about yourselves: How old are you, which city do you live in, what do you study/work with?

Do any of you know one another from before today? (And if so, how?)

Talk a little about your social media habits: What social media platforms do you use? How do you use them?

Have you ever posted something online and regretted it?

Do you think using social media has had an impact on who you are as a person?

Participants did a ranking task, where they ordered items in terms of how important they were for their own self-image. Items included political views, religious beliefs, gender, hobbies, talents and abilities, etc.

What is your relationship to news? Do you take in news (absolutely fine if not)?

What do you think of when you hear the word “politics”? (after discussing their takes, encourage to keep broad notion of “the political” in mind)

Would you say you are interested in politics? (What makes you say yes/no?)

How has your relationship to politics changed over time?

Do you ever “act political” / participate in politics?

Please raise your hand if you consider yourself to be (each raise-hands round was followed by discussion): “on the left side”, “on the right side”, “a feminist”, “conservative”, “a socialist”, “an activist”, “woke”

What does being a “good citizen” mean, to you? (and “bad” citizen?)

Does social media play a role in your relationship to politics?

How often would you say you see political content on social media? And what kind of political content, from what kind of users?

How do you feel about people posting about politics on social media? Are there better and worse ways to do it?

Do you show your political views on social media? If yes, how? If no, why not?

Moderator introduces the PPT with the following, and prompts throughout: We will show the examples in the PPT and discuss them in different ways Have you seen something like this before?

What is your impression?

E.g., How would you interpret/respond if an influencer, politician, friend, acquaintance, etc. shares this?

Could you “react” using any technological functions (like, save, etc.)?

Do you have anything you feel like saying that we did not come across?

Do you have any questions?

Thank you so much for your time. Please feel free to contact me anytime if there is something you would like to know or add.