The Poetics of Digital Children and Designing Online Democratic Deliberations

Abstract The article explores the dynamic intersection of poetics and democratic deliberation in the digital environment, offering a special focus on the role and potential of the child (online) deliberator. Despite significant advances in deliberative democracy, especially in online contexts, the concept of deliberative poetics, and its implications for children’s online engagement remains under-developed. The article advocates for the reimagining of online deliberative processes in a manner that supports child-driven deliberative poetics, as well as aligns with the aims of deliberative processes, leverages the unique advantages of the digital environment, and enables the meaningful engagement children. Drawing on the insights gained from children’s experiences with video-conferencing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the article offers key recommendations for designing child-centered video-conference-facilitated deliberative processes and proposes the establishment of a designated digital hub for children’s participation and deliberation. These initiatives aim to enhance children’s engagement in online democratic deliberations, and maximize their potential in terms of poetic, technological, and policy outcomes.