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The Internet is the New Public Sphere

            In my discussion of the above statement I will first of all examine the basic concept of the "public sphere- as understood by Jurgen Habermas. Then I will point out a few of the discrepancies between his ideal and the practice of the "old public sphere-. Finally I will attempt to show to what extent the Internet may or may not be closer to the ideals outlined by Habermas. I have felt that in the course of this scrutiny it would be appropriate to rely almost exclusively on sources available from the Internet (as well as my lecture notes).
             Habermas sees the public sphere as the essential vehicle for the furtherment of democracy. In his approach he combines the liberal view of democracy (i.e. to keep the state in check) and the participatory view that has been laid out by many philosophers and philosophies, from the driving ideals of the Greek polis, to Jean Jacques Rousseau and even Alasdair MacIntyre. The public sphere is a realm where a consensus-building discussion occurs among the participants, who overcome their at first subjectively biased views in favor of a rationally motivated agreement- (Habermas, quoted by Bass).
             "The bourgeois public sphere may be conceived above all as the sphere of private people come together as a public; they soon claimed the public sphere regulated from above against the public authorities themselves, to engage them in a debate over the general rules governing relations in the basically privatized but publicly relevant sphere of commodity exchange and social labor. The medium of this political confrontation was peculiar and without historical precedent: people's public use of their reason."" (Habermas, quoted by Mandell).
             Habermas saw the rise of the public sphere in the 18th century coffee houses where the middle-class gathered, debated the state, read and conducted discussions. He also believed that this public sphere declined and politics was re-feudalised from the late 19th century and even more so in the 20th.


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1. A Free Press And A Democratic Public Sphere

... will be printed. For example, despite the accusation that the American press is one sided and pro-American many articles questioning United States policy can be found daily in publications like the Washington Post and New York Times. Moreover, realizations of government failures, such as mishandled warnings to the FBI regarding the terrorist attacks of 11th September 2001 were ... printed and reported on with out hesitation. The mass media also brings us first hand accounts that would ... the citizen. Over the past century this system has spawned the assembly line, the telegraph, the t...

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2. Politics of the Search Engine

... heard in the public sphere " (Introna and Nissenbaum, 2000, p. 169). The world was never more than a mouse-click away, and therefore the masses of all races and socioeconomic classes would be empowered by this abundance of information (Introna and Nissenbaum, 2000). In order to properly navigate the Internet, search engines were developed to more accurately 'Surf the Web.' Soon, search engines were being celebrated as "the great new gatekeepers of ... and Nissenbaum, 2000). This can be achieved through such unethical practices as "keyboard stuffing, invisible text, tiny text, " et ceter...

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3. Internet and the Political Arena

... well-known or controversial governor give a speech via YouTube. The internet has become the most effective method for political figures to connect with Americans. The ease and speed of spreading important and timely information through digital media has changed the American political arena. Fact checking, party affiliations, opinions, current legislation, and public court records are at our fingertips. Politicians, various political ... one of eight civic or political activities with social media. The use of social media is becoming a feature of political and civic engagement for many Am...

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4. Art And The Mass Media

... vacationers from out of town, there is a good chance that museums on the Internet are reaching their ideal audience by using that medium. And no doubt the museum store will be transplanted in its entirety to the new medium. The emergence of museums and other art venues into electronic environments is already benefiting traditional museums, the artists, and the public. As technologies for the creation, translation, transmission, and presentation ... of art become more available, more powerful, cheaper, and easier to use, we will see an explosion of art in the public sphere like none befo...

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5. The World's Response to Terrorism

... malevolent attack. I think Friedman is right on with both the reference to terrorists propagating hate through the Internet and to the utter devastation it would cause to the global market if the terrorists had access to nuclear weapons. However, I find the reference to the Three No's weak. These No's include: no loose nukes, no new nascent nukes and no new nuclear states. Does this mean ... ; • Prepare the citizenry and the city government for consequences associated with terrorist operations against the city. (The source above are from Michael, 2012) The Word's Use "At the moments of ...

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6. Sumo Exposed: The Invention Of Tradition In Japan's National Sport

... link between the wrestling of the imperial court and the sumo wrestling we know today It was in no way a public spectacle but rather yet another of those rituals by which the emperors carried out their primary function which was the guaranteeing of good harvests (Bolitho 1988:19). During the Tokugawa period, due to the proliferation of towns ... the intellectual sphere, and a widening range of diversity in the area of social relations and values," all in effect amounting to an increase in the authority of "instrumental rationality" over "value rationality" (30-32). This conception of mod...

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7. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE REALIST TRADITION

... invent and develop indicates an innate ability to evolve and change. For example, the growth of modern methods of communication has changed human behaviour significantly. The invention of the telephone, radio, TV and, more recently, the Internet has increased the speed of communication and the potency of messages allowing people to increase their knowledge. To suggest that these ... sphere, they have the basic form of Realism but, without the other characteristics, fall outside the Realist scope. International participants, such as non-government authorities, international markets and mu...

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8. Another Space CYBERSPACE

... are three different kinds of social criticisms of Internet as a means of enhancing democracy. First criticism is commodification of the public sphere by the commodification of Internet. To examine deeper, Rheingold argues that the cyberspace preempted public discussions because the Internet is used as a public sphere for people to create a public opinion and as it is commodified it is impossible to think about it as a public sphere. In addition, Moore argues that Internet is a marketplace where discourses (which are now publicities ... and loss of social kinship that is concluded by mor...

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9. Online Communities

... ; can we assume that consensus is realistic within a multiplicity of public interest? Will online communities prove to be a new "public sphere", replacing the coffee houses and salons of the eighteenth century and the streets and barricades of the nineteenth, as the privileged locations of civil society? Although it is clear that the future of interpersonal relations will be dramatically changed by the new technology, it is unclear to what extent the Internet will replace face-to-face ... interactions. Nevertheless, the Internet clearly provides many advantages with its capabilities to ....

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