Diamonds in the Rough: Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning in Facebook Pollshare.com Comments

This article studies the argumentative content of online comments posted in response to the Pollshare.com survey, “How satisfied are you with Trump as President?” Positioned within the body of research exploring the public sphere, this quantitative and qualitative content analysis identifies trends in word use, prominent phrases, and argumentative strategies used. A lack of civility and promotion of self-interest are evident in the three main categories of responses (i.e., satisfied, dissatisfied, and neutral). However, there is evidence of sound argument as well, particularly in the form of argument by comparison, found to be the most prominent argument type among those satisfied and dissatisfied. Directional arguments and argument of sacrifice and waste were identified as well.