Shitstorms und andere Nettigkeiten

Shitstorms have changed the face of online communication: from once being a libertarian medium for democratic dialogue it seems to have become a forum for resentment and hate messages. This gives limitations to the communicative potential of social media in journalism, politics and business and could possibly even show the limits of communication as a whole.
An overview of the research situation is provided by Ralf Spiller and Thomas Hintzen showing what effects shitstorms can have for companies in particular. Eva Skottke, Kay Bendel and Nick Menger analyzed shitstorms as well as candystorms by using the eye tracking method. Frank Überall covers shitstorms from a journalistic point of view and their potential as poison for media communication. An empirical analyses of social media communication used by political parties during election campaigns is given by Anderas Elter. In their study Katharina Emde and Juliane Saß look into how news fan pages on Facebook are used. Christian Solmecke offers legal instructions on how to deal with shitstorms.
Editor Hector Haarkötter is head of department for Journalism and Communications at Hochschule für Medien, Kommunikation und Wirtschaft (HMKW / School for Media, Communication and Economics) in Cologne. In his own contribution, he with empirical approach explores rhetorical strategies within shitstorms.