New Paper: Understanding Participation Inequality in Online Political Discussions

A new paper supervised by Philipp Lorenz-Spreen was published yesterday. It addresses a well known problem in digital public spaces. Online debates are often distorted because a loud and sometimes politically extreme minority dominates the conversation while most users remain silent. The study asks how this pattern can change.

The team ran a collective field experiment on Reddit. Over four weeks, 520 participants discussed 20 political issues in six private communities. The study tested how monetary incentives and moderation prompts shape participation and discourse quality.

The findings are clear: Incentives reduced participation inequality, while reminders to “stay civil” unexpectedly increased toxicity. Highly active users posted more when they perceived the environment as polarized. Silent users, in contrast, joined the conversation when discussions felt respectful and constructive.

The paper shows how platform design and perceived discussion climate influence who speaks up and how positive incentives can help make online discourse more inclusive.

Read the paper