Most online media consumption is not driven by a desire to seek out news and politics. However, the public may still encounter politics because it arises organically in communities devoted to non-political subjects. This study examines the potential of popular reality television online discussion forums to serve as online third spaces and stimulate political discussion due to the natural connections that audiences make between the cast members and “real life” in reality-based programming. Based on a quantitative analysis of political comments made to reality television subreddits and a survey of visitors to a popular subreddit focused on The Bachelor television show, the findings not only demonstrate the ability of entertainment-focused online communities to expose a broad segment of the public to political talk, but also point to the obstacles in promoting political discussion that is simultaneously enjoyable, informative, and tolerant of diverse viewpoints.

大多数在线媒体消费并非出于寻求新闻和政治的愿望。然而，公众可能仍然会遇到政治，因为它在致力于非政治主题的社区中有机地出现。这项研究探讨了流行的真人秀在线讨论论坛作为在线第三空间和激发政治讨论的潜力，这是由于观众在基于真人秀的节目中在演员和“现实生活”之间建立的自然联系。基于对真人秀子版块的政治评论的定量分析以及对热门子版块访问者的调查，该子版块的重点是单身汉电视节目，调查结果不仅证明了以娱乐为中心的在线社区有能力让广大公众参与政治谈话，而且还指出了促进同时令人愉快、信息丰富和容忍不同观点的政治讨论的障碍.