This book examines the recent evolution of online spaces and their impact on networked democracy. Through an illuminating mix of theoretical and methodological analysis, contributors provide an understanding of how a range of individuals and groups, including activists and NGOs, governments and griefers, are using digital technologies to influence public debates. Contributions consider these phenomena in a global contemporary context, providing within the same volume rigorous examinations of the design of digital platforms for deliberation, users attempts to manipulate those platforms, and the ways activists and governments are responding to emerging threats to democratic discourse. Providing diverse, global case studies, this collection is a valuable tool for academics within and beyond the fields of new media, communication, and information policy and governance.

John Jones is an Associate Professor at The Ohio State University, USA, where he is Director of Digital Media Studies in the Department of English. 

Michael Trice is a Lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication program.

1. Introduction.- 2. Platform Utopianism after Democracy.- 3. Inside the Swarm: Cognition, Conformity, and the Affective Instruments of the Social Web.- 4. The Unfulfilled Promise of Digital Networks: Heterogeneity in the Effect of Technology on Collective Action Mobilization.- 5. Social Media Effects: Hijacking Democracy and Civility in Civic Engagement.- 6. Reasons of the Heart: Political Applications of Emotion Analytics.- 7. Cyber Creeps: The Alt-right and the Evolution of Social Media Hatemakers.- 8. Third Spaces, Sequencing, and Intertextuality: (De)Constructing Misinformation and Fake News.- 9. Subverting the Platform Flexibility of Twitter to Spread Misinformation.- 10. Creation of an Alt-Left Boogeyman: Information Economics and the Emergence of Antifa.- 11. Tweeting Inequity: @realDonaldTrump and the World Leader Exception.- 12. Extrapolating Ideological Divisions in the Indian Public Sphere through Online Twitter Conversations.- 13. Digital Solidarity in Times of Crisis: The Case of Greece.- 14. #Metoo in China: Affordances and Constraints of Social Media Platforms.- 15. Trump Daddy.- 16. Censorship and Digital Dissent in the Kashmir Conflict.- 17. The Fifth Estate Joins the Debate: The Political Roles of Live Commentary in the First Televised Presidential Debate of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.- 18. Just Dont Put It on Our Mauna: Sovereignty and Algorithms in Digital Democracy.