Presidential Debates Spark Conversation And Analysis On Line

October 15, 1996

GAINESVILLE — Now that the computer has replaced the water cooler and the back fence as a source for gossip and debate, a University of Florida professor is analyzing computer chat groups for views and opinions on this year’s presidential and vice-presidential debates. “I wanted to begin to understand how public opinion is formed and distributed in a new medium,” said Marilyn Roberts, a UF advertising professor and expert on political communication. “While the 2000 elections will probably see more of an impact of these on-line services, in 1996 we are setting the benchmarks and I wanted to be in on this from the beginning.”

Roberts analyzed political message groups on America Online, as well as media sites and the candidates’ sites for the first debates. Her initial findings show that contrary to recent polls, many on-line users felt that Dole performed better in the presidential debates than Clinton. Roberts expects similar results from Wednesday’s final presidential debate.

“America Online tends to have a selective limited membership, it tends to be a bit more male and more conservative. Each service has a different demographic. For example, CompuServe users are different from Prodigy users,” Roberts said. “My preliminary findings show that Dole has a higher approval percentage on-line than in the CNN and Gallup polls. I feel this is related to the makeup of the users of America Online, but I also think that many people feel that Dole did a better job than they expected in the first debate.”

Some America Online members also cited examples of what could be considered a visual bias in media coverage of the first debate.

“ABC’s coverage was mentioned in several pro-Dole messages,” Roberts said. “The users felt that Dole did an excellent job on the whole, but some mentioned that the shots of Clinton’s reaction while Dole was responding made Clinton appear to be under greater stress,” Roberts said. “I watched the debates on C-SPAN, where there wasn’t that kind of dynamic. This shows how important non-verbal cues can be, like in the 1992 debates when there was a furor because the audience could see Bush looking at his watch.”

Opinions on Wednesday’s vice-presidential debates closely reflected those of the first presidential debates, which is probably a function of America Online’s membership, said Roberts. More America Online members felt that Kemp won the debates, some citing Gore’s speaking style.

“For those who felt that Kemp won, Gore’s very basic, clear, concise speaking style was seen as condescending and talking down, referred to as a Mr. Rogers’ speaking style,” Roberts said. “There was also a question of media bias, with some users having the attitude that the media determine who wins, then tell us. These users also assume that the media are more liberal, so naturally they would say that the Democratic candidate won.”

With the vast amount of information and opinions expressed on-line, users have access to a wide range of commentary about the candidates.

“On-line services can be a double-edged sword for politicians and candidates because it is a totally unrestricted technology,” Roberts said. “Through links, there are a number of unofficial’ sites where users can get opinions from any number of people who have strong opinions for or against the candidate.”

Many on-line users often demand sources and background if a site’s facts are not backed up. Users also will recommend sites to other users.

“People are actually telling others where they got their information,” Roberts said. “This is extremely helpful, because it shows how information travels throughout this new medium.”

Roberts’ research into on-line services will analyze both of the presidential debates and the vice-presidential debate, to hopefully record the birth and growth of political communication in the age of new technology.

“This is a brand new medium,” Roberts said. “It’s as if we were in 1952 with the birth of television political advertising with Eisenhower and Stevenson, or in the radio era and the impact that FDR’s fireside chats had on the American public.”