Spiral of Silence in the Internet era

The emergence of the Internet and convergent media will force us to adapt or discard some of our leading communication theories.  Spiral of silence, in particular, ia a theory that does not seem to hold up well in the Internet era. Spiral of silence, frankly, is a theory I have never been able to get behind.  While it works well in more collectivist societies or individualistic societies which are under stress,  it is more problematic in Western democracies during times of peace where people are less afraid to express their views, even when they are in the minority.  Spiral of silence seems to break down in the online world. The anonymity one has in online chats or bulletin boards should lessen an individual’s fear of speaking out.  An individual’s quasi-statistical sense may be skewed in an environment where people can select what sites they visit.  Indeed, there is strong evidence people practice selective exposure and seek out sites that support their point of view.

A recent study by Ho and McLeod in Communication Research found that the spiral of silence did not hold up terribly well in the online world of chat rooms.  People were significantly more willing to speak out in online chat than in face-to-face discussions even after controlling for demographic, news media use, fear of isolation, and opinion congruency variables. Moreover, the absence of social cues and the anonymity of communicating in the online world may reduce status consciousness and inequality, and moderate the effect of fear of isolation. This may encourage individuals who hold the minority opinions to speak out.  This study doesn’t sound a death knell for the theory of spiral of silence.  The theory held up well in the face-to-face condition. However, it strongly suggests that the theory might not apply well in cyberspace.  What do you think?  Can the theory be saved in the online world or is it one that only applies under certain conditions in the real world?