Self-censorship and the ‘spiral of silence’: Why Americans are less likely to publicly voice their opinions on political issues Nearly half of Americans say they feel less free to speak their minds.

ICYMI #chilling #spiralofsilence theconversation.com/self-censors...

Why Artificial Minds Are Terrified of Silence - Artificial minds’ aversion to silence reflects their core design to foster uninterrupted dialogue and engagement, driving advancements

Why Artificial Minds Are Terrified of Silence wiobs.com/why-artifici... #ArtificialIntelligence #AICommunication #DigitalSilence #SpiralOfSilence #ConversationalAI

Lihêfka bêdengiyê
⬇️
diyarname.com/nivis/lihefk...

#Nivîs #Gotar #SpiralofSilence #Qunciknivîskar #OmerDilsoz

3.2.3 The spiral of silence A third perspective within the revisionist tendency to re-evaluate older insights about the power of the media was developed by the German Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in 1984. The theory is related to earlier insights about the so-called third-party' effect, whereby receivers are influenced in their manner of thinking about opinion formation by media and other actors (McQuail, 2010, p. 571). It is also linked to the agenda-setting theory, but goes further in its predictions about the long-term effects, based on a perception of media as an omnipresent source of information (Baran & Davis, 2015, pp. 268-269). Noelle-Neumann saw the media as a powerful actor in the creation and shaping of public opinion and expression over the long term. Using the 'spiral of silence' metaphor as a framework for her arguments, she pointed to the double role played by media in reflecting the opinions of the major-ity, whilst at the same time remaining silent about other, alternative voices (Ouan-Haase, 2013, p. 415). This allows the media to set in motion a spiral of silence (see figure 6.7). The more the media projects and repeats the dominant vision, the more individuals with divergent opinions or minority viewpoints will be inclined to keep quiet, for fear of social isolation, confrontation or mockery. In this way, they inadvertently strengthen the dominance of the prevailing consensus opinion (McQuail, 2010, p. 571). Consequently, media do not have a direct influence on the opinions of an individual but influence instead the individual's perception of the majority

[ctd] opinion in society (Quan-Haase, 2013, p. 415). People constantly scan their environment to pick up signals about current opinions on different topics. By relying increasingly on the media as a source for these signals, individuals will gradually come to accept the discourse in newspapers and on television as being the dominant opinion. A further application of the theory revealed that the opinions of the majority can sometimes find themselves trapped in a spiral of silence, while the alternative minority discourses of journalists and other media makers are presented and perceived as dominant. Noelle-Neumann (1984) cited the example of Germany in the 1970s, when a largely left-oriented discourse dominated the media at a time when German society in general was more right-oriented. However, because the population perceived the well-organ-ized and consistent left-wing discourse as being the dominant public opinion (even though this was far from being the case), they fell silent for fear of becoming socially isolated. The spiral of silence has been criticized for, amongst other things, seeming to return to the 'bad old days' of mass society theory, which it was believed had been totally discredited. In addition, Noelle-Neumann's theory is highly sender-oriented and devotes little or no attention to individual actions or the mediating role of intermediary factors (Baran & Davis, 2015, p. 269).

Happened to be leafing through this excellent 2017 intro to #CommunicationSciences by the much-missed Jan Loisen & his colleague Stijn Joye, & landed on the pages on the #SpiralOfSilence, which feels apposite…

Original post on mastodon.social

Survey: “About three to four times more Americans said they did not feel free to express themselves, compared with the number of those who said so during the McCarthy era. (…) The robust debate so necessary to deliberations in a democracy is squelched as the views of a minority come to be seen […]

Some state medical schools will no longer host a speaker like me who professes immigrants are people with human dignity because it might anger their state legislature. So, I now accept speaking invitations from student groups of any size. Disrupt the #spiralofsilence

Don’t fall into spiral of silence...
Amplify the truth of music with this latest episode of ‘It’s All Happening’



“Spiral of Silence” (Ep.62)

LISTEN HERE & Turn it up:
www.mixcloud.com/BigBeefProdu...

#spiralofsilence #radio #music #multigenre #politics #variety #itsallhappening

Breaking the #spiralofsilence.

Spirals of silence, the BBC’s real role and… Billy Joel. Always with the stunt-headlining. Oi vey. So, this morning the Grauniad ran a piece based on some academic research about how climate action is more popular than most people think, with everyone un…

Spirals of silence, the BBC’s real role and… Billy Joel.

#climate
#spiralofsilence
#renewableenergy
#BillyJoel

marchudson.net/2025/04/22/s...

a drawing of a girl sitting in the grass reading a book with social media icons behind her ALT: a drawing of a girl sitting in the grass reading a book with social media icons behind her

18/03/2025
In today's class, we're talking about Elisabeth Noelle - Nuemann (1916-2010) and her theory:
She argues that media provide a narrow, unbalanced interpretation of events, limiting the public's perception of reality.
#publicopinion #spiralofsilence

Meinungsfreiheit: Nur 40 Prozent der Deutschen glauben, Meinung frei äußern zu können Noch nie gab es in der Bundesrepublik so große Bedenken, politische Meinung frei zu artikulieren. Nur Anhänger der Grünen sind noch von der Meinungsfreiheit überzeugt.

"Nur Anhänger der Grünen sind noch von der Meinungsfreiheit überzeugt." Interesting twist on #fearofisolation and the #spiralofsilence ... which are both alive and well, apparently. Time to update my LSC 251 slides for next fall ...