Will the UK commentators fall into line and back unionism once a timetable for a vote has been agreed, or is a more permanent split developing? 

Through a qualitative analysis of images shared on the platform Instagram, we demonstrate that the Scottish electorate did indeed used image-sharing for political self-expression -- posting a variety of visual content, representative of a diversity of political opinion. We conclude that users utilised Instagram as a platform to craft and present their "political selves". 

This analyses the referendum coverage on BBC’s Reporting Scotland in the final month of the campaign. Findings suggest that, despite the presence of many types of sources, male-dominated political elites were the main focus in the news.  The coverage more broadly manifests a liberal democratic logic whereby the media represent the views of politicians and political organisations to the public, whose role is to make an informed choice between them, with comparatively limited opportunities to participate in the mediated political debate.

some campaigns – like Better Together – selectively adopt digital tools that fit with the command and control model; in other cases – like Yes Scotland – the application of digital communications technologies and the dynamics created by linking to other (digital-enabled) grassroots organizations can have transformative effects.

the 2014 Scottish independence referendum offered local newspapers a unique opportunity to frame Scottish independence in a particular manner that reinforces their influence on Scottish distinctiveness and secures their position in the media market. This gives reason to examine how The Courier and Evening Telegraph framed Scottish independence during the campaign of the 2014 referendum in order to assess if local indigenous titles capitalised on this opportunity.

"We’re not aligned to any one political party but believe in self-determination for Scotland. Only then will a country disfigured by poverty and inequality be re-born. Only independence can bring democracy. The British State is irredeemable and is structurally corrupt, broken and riven with hierarchy."