![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3twbxkAtuPbQzGYcJ0-FRl8-xf7PZKIVNpkvKXe2TP26AAPooKIHKRPmKq_lsfE4VChT4-kbT2-9LUhBIb_TF7lJ78VsP9EcOudxVkoJX9Z3RxNUXiGDTZSvef3UcaABET6DTQ/s1600/Worm.jpg)
He talked about his research on TV election debates and the influence of the on screen 'worm' used to show what a group of undecided voters think about what's being said throughout the debate.
Colin Davis's paper Social influence in televised election debates: A potential distortion of democracy can be found online. Its conclusion:
In sum, our data indicate that viewers exposed to the worm are subject to social influence processes which later form the basis of their opinions. Thus, the responses of a small group of individuals could, via the worm, influence millions of voters. This possibility is not conducive to a healthy democracy, and therefore we argue that broadcasters should avoid the simultaneous presentation of average response data with televised election debates
1 comment:
As frightening was the revelation that the opinions of no more than 50 people contributed to the 2015 "worm". It was even worse in 2010; the figure was 12.
Post a Comment