Can social media increase and improve civic participation? If so, in what ways?
Can social media increase and improve civic participation? If so, in what ways? There's a lot being said and written about the subject these days, but it is difficult to get a clear overview of the opinions. I attempt here to collect viewpoints both for and against the premise that social media is creating a better public sphere, and analyze them in the context of what constitutes a public and its antithesis, a mass. In presenting what are sometimes extreme positions within this debate (too idealistic v. too critical), my hope is to begin to understand the reality that lies in the middle, and come closer to understanding social media's potential (and limitations) as a tool to bring about social change.
Read the article here published under a creative commons licence.
The author writes
Idealists believe that social media improves the processes described above by giving us more efficient tools for discussion and for 'acting out' what comes out of these discussions. But the problem is that, in practice, democracy does not unfold so neatly. Mills argued that an unequal distribution of power and knowledge allows a small elite to impose its viewpoint on the population (through the media, for instance) while convincing them that it is the people's will that the elite is carrying out on its behalf. Authentic democracies require an informed public to operate. Conversely, oligarchies require the consensual passivity and ignorance of a mass. But what role exactly do publics and masses play in each situation?
And have a read of The people formly known as the audience
I suppose I must be an idealist.
Key headlines: Balance between the ability to produce and consume ideas || Affordable and effective means of producing ideas || Ideas are translated into action
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