A ‘public sphere’ refers to the place where individuals go to find things such as news and political debates, in order to determine what issues will be faced, or impact the individual the most. The public sphere also narrows in on where these issues are talked about (Rauchfleisch, 2017). As the popularity of social media increases, it is not uncommon to turn to a social media platform when looking for information. For me personally, Twitter and Facebook are my two main sources for debate and discussion on topics of interest. Even though both outlets are equally as interesting as the other, I tend to spend copious amounts of time on Facebook each day – probably more time than I should…
I’m going to make a vast assumption here that most people understand how Facebook operates, but for those who don’t, the platform consists of a compilation of statuses and posts, all which are published on user’s respective profiles, or within groups. Unless comments and likes are disabled for the post, other users are free to state their opinion on uploaded statuses through ‘reactions’ (e.g. likes, ‘haha’ reacts), or comments.
Issues that can arise on this public sphere are very broad, and any topic of interest could probably be found with a few simple clicks. Many verified news outlets, as well as individuals in the limelight also have pages or groups, which act as rather cathartic discussion forums for anyone to join.
Facebook is good in the sense that anyone can join and have an input, and there are restrictions on things like hate speech, which can subsequently get you banned, so most of the time it’s a friendly environment. Although there can be some barriers, such as Internet accessibility, since the platform is a website after all.
In a media sense, Facebook aids with communication, bridging the gap between barriers such as distance – if you want to have a discussion about Global Warming with someone in Sweden, it wouldn’t be too hard to do so on Facebook. Further, in regards to this specific media outlet, if you have an account, you have a voice, which is fundamental to discussions and the public sphere in general.
(Fifth of April 2019)
References
Rauchfeisch, A, 2017, ‘The Public Sphere as an Essential Contested Concept: a Co-citation Analysis of the Last 20 Years of Public Sphere Research’, Communication and the Public, vol. 2, no. 1.
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in omnia paratus 