Who Are the Online Commenters? A Large-Scale Representative Survey to Explore the Identity and Motivation of Online News Commenters in Comparison to Non-Commenters

Liesje C. A, van der Linden, Cedric Waterschoot, Ernst van den Hemel, Florian A. Kunneman, Antal P. J, van den Bosch, Emiel J. Krahmer, Department of Communication and Cognition, Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital sciences, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, KNAW Meertens Institute, The Netherlands, Department for Language, and Communication, Institute for Language Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Social Science Computer Review

Published online on December 30, 2025

Abstract

Social Science Computer Review, Ahead of Print.
To better understand the demographic composition of people participating in commenting sections beneath online news articles, we conducted a large-scale survey (n= 5,490) with a panel that is representative of the Dutch population – the LISS panel. We ...