A better deliberation may be gained by Endorsing asynchronicity in online text-based discussions,Coleman and Gøtze<ref>Coleman S, Gøtze J (2001) Bowling Together: Online Public Engagement in Policy Deliberation.London: Hansard Society. (p.17)</ref>, argue that ‘the best deliberative results are often achieved when messages are stored or archived and responded to after readers have had time to contemplate them’. Contrariwise, Fishkin et al.<ref>Fishkin JS, Iyengar S, and Luskin R (2005) Deliberative public opinion in presidential primaries: evidence from the online deliberative poll. Paper presented at the Voice and Citizenship conference, Seattle, WA, 22–24 April.(p.8)</ref> contend that asynchronous forums tend to be relatively low in ‘affective bonding and mutual understanding’. Wright and Street (2007) associate several technical affordances of online forums, including prior review moderation and threaded messages, with increased deliberation.

Suler identifies anonymity and invisibility as key design features in the production of the ‘online disinhibition effect’, which is simply a tendency to speak and act with less restraint online than one would offline<ref>Suler J (2004) The online disinhibition effect. CyberPsychology & Behavior7(3): 321–6.</ref>.