A Discourse Analysis on the Management and Non-Management of Online Prejudice on the Grounds of Religion

Abstract

Research into the management of online prejudice is limited, and even more so when the prejudice is based on religion. This study utilizes discursive psychology practices to explore the way in which prejudice because of religion is negotiated and managed in the comment sections of YouTube. A YouTube channel called the Nothing but the Truth Zone was selected after some general research due to the high number of prejudice occurring in their comment threads and micro and macro discourse analysis was used to examine the selected excerpts. Results found that responses to religious prejudice was largely sarcastic or aggressive, and in some cases the prejudiced comments allowed for further, more extreme prejudiced views to be shared. This, however, cannot be held as conclusive evidence for the way that prejudice is negotiated and managed on YouTube due to the small scale of this study and the vast amounts of data available for analysis on YouTube.