Jurgen Habermas defined the term ‘public sphere’ as:
A domain of our social life where such a thing as public opinion can be formed [where] citizens… deal with matters of general interest without being subject to coercion…[to] express and publicize their views
At first time, in the nineteenth century, it was a place such as coffee houses where private individuals coming together to discuss (Sinekopova 2006, p. 505).
Nowadays, a transnational public sphere has appeared thanks to the rapid spread of globalized media communication throughout the world (Mules 1998, p. 24). The social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have replaced the old way of communication (Deepa et. al 2012, p. 66). As a result, social media have received a significant amount of attention as public sphere in recent years. Virtual spaces like Twittersphere allow communities to form organically around topics and shared interests as old public sphere (Gunton & Davis 2012, 226).
The presence or absence of physical spaces is the biggest difference between the old public sphere and the new. In many cases, these online-communities could not exist in physical spaces because of geographic distance between members (Gunton & Davis 2012, 226). Pro-virtual sphere argue that this new public sphere increases the power to act by providing information and creating contact with other. Also the new public sphere can improve democracy and be an ‘electronic agora’. However, some people worried about virtual spaces. They said that issues of concern are mainly to the community and it causes expertise to undermine.
Reference
Deepa S., D, Chopade, N & Ranjith, P 2012, ‘Social Networking Sites-A New Era of 21st Century’, SIES Journal Of Management, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 66-73, retrieved 19 August 2012, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost.
Gunton, L, & Davis, K 2012, 'Beyond broadcasting Customer service, community and information experience in the Twittersphere', Reference Services Review, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 224-227, retrieved 19 August 2012, Computers & Applied Sciences Complete, EBSCOhost.
Mules, W 1998, 'Media Publics and the Transnational Public Sphere', Critical Arts: A South-North Journal Of Cultural & Media Studies, vol. 12, no. 1/2, p. 24, retrieved 19 August 2012, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost.
Sinekopova, GV 2006, 'Building the Public Sphere: Bases and Biases', Journal Of Communication, vol. 56, no. 3, pp. 505-522, retrieved 19 August 2012, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost.
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