Common Identities and Political Talk
Evaluating Cross-Cutting Political Discussions in Sports Communities on Reddit
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23310367 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ashwin Rajadesingan (0000-0001-5387-1350, University of Texas, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-23 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1058-4609 • E-ISSN: 1091-7675 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10584609.2026.2704899 |
| OpenAlex | W7170252503 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 53 |
Research suggests that online nonpolitical communities may facilitate better cross-cutting political discussions than explicitly political communities as users’ shared nonpolitical identities can offset partisan bias, in line with the Common Ingroup Identity Model. This study tests this idea through a large-scale computational analysis comparing the quantity, tone, and substance of political discussions on the same topics in political and sports communities on Reddit. Overall, we find that sports communities facilitate more cross-cutting political discussions than political communities, with the exception of soccer communities. These discussions use similar proportions of credible sources but use significantly fewer sources that are not credible compared to discussions in political communities. On the flip side, we do not find evidence of a meaningful difference in toxicity levels of cross-cutting political discussions in sports and political communities. Further, we find that political discussions in sports communities use fewer sources overall. These results advance a nuanced understanding of the promise of nonpolitical spaces for deliberative democracy and the role of common identities in political discussions.
American political science · Democracy · Identity (music) · Ingroups and outgroups · Political communication · Political culture · Politics · Voting behavior · Media Studies and Communication · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Social Media and Politics
Deliberative Systems
Frenemies
Political Polarization on Twitter
Tweeting From Left to Right
The Pushshift Reddit Dataset
Exposure to opposing views on social media can increase political polarization
The Other Divide
Reducing Intergroup Bias
Visual misinformation on Facebook
Divisive or Bridging? Personal Stories in Cross-Cutting Political Discussions on Reddit
Is Information Good for Deliberation? Link-Posting in an Online Forum
Measuring Deliberation’s Content
Online Groups and Political Discourse
Encountering “Difference” in the Contemporary Public Sphere
Hearing the Other Side
Public Deliberation, Discursive Participation, and Citizen Engagement
A Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Phenomena
Over-Time Trends in Incivility on Social Media
How Affective Polarization Shapes Americans’ Political Beliefs
Beyond “Political” Communicative Spaces
Learning about Politics From The Daily Show
Virtual Community Attraction
Discursive Equality and Everyday Talk Online
From everyday conversation to political action
The Online Disinhibition Effect
Opting Out of Political Discussions
Cross-cutting interaction, inter-party hostility, and partisan identity
Americans, Not Partisans
A Cross-Cutting Calm
Sports Fandom and Political Attitudes
Partisan Differences in the Sharing of Low-Quality News Sources by U.S Political Elites
Does Talking to the Other Side Reduce Inter-party Hostility? Evidence from Three Studies
Estimating the Ideology of Political YouTube Videos
The Nature of Affective Polarization
Reducing political polarization in the United States with a mobile chat platform
Can Deliberation Have Lasting Effects
Quantifying Social Media's Political Space
Cross-cutting Social Networks
"Selecting Out of "Politics
Rethinking the Public Sphere
Athletes and/or Activists
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |