The idea of public sphere comes from the publication The Structural Transformation of the public
sphere by Habermas (1962, p7). Habermas
put forward the idea of public spheres as people getting together in a public
place to form a common understanding of an opinion; the common understanding
sometimes leading to certain actions by the state.
The original idea of public spheres is probably not relevant any
more with the advent of internet technologies such as Twittersphere and
Blogsphere (Ferree et al. 2002, p.299). The internet allows people to publish
their opinions, provide opinions in response to people’s opinions and join
virtual groups that support a particular opinion (notice my extensive use of
word opinion, I have also believed that everything posted by common individuals on
the web space is nothing more than opinion).
For example, a user may write a tweet post that can potentially be read and
subscribed to by millions on users within minutes.
The question however is, are the contemporary spheres of
twitter and blogs truly provide the complete freedom of expression? Have a read
of the following news item
I won’t go into the specifics of the news item. The point is
that someone was sued over what they said on twitter. Does it mean twitter
doesn’t allow for freedom of expression and isn’t a truly contemporary public
sphere?
I think internet in general (including twittersphere and
blogsphere) is a great replacement of the concept of public sphere; a medium
that knows no boundaries. However, we do have to be considerate of others in
this space.
References:
Habermas, J. (1962/1995). The structural transformation of
the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of bourgeois society. Cambridge:
Mit Press.
Marx Ferree, M., Gamson, W. A., Gerhards, J., & Rucht,
D. (2002). Four models of the public sphere in modern democracies. Theory and
society, 31(3), 289–324. (p. 299).
Schwarz, K (2012). Kelly Sued over Tweet. Online on 21 August 2012 at http://www.begadistrictnews.com.au/story/161508/kelly-sued-over-tweet/
you got a good argument here, i was thinking the same idea that u've said. that the ideas of public sphere become far from its meaning. since the twitter become a large engine for those who wants to share or express their opinion. then we start to realize, is that twitter really transforming the idea of public sphere? good knowledge you got here. cheers
ReplyDelete