Public Sphere

The public sphere is the idea that in the realm of our social life we can share ideas and form public opinions. In the public sphere we should be able to find out about what is happening in the world and take part in democracy. The public sphere is there to inform the public by using the media; this could be through newspaper, TV or the internet. The public sphere began to emerge in the eighteenth century in Britain where the first newspapers were not only supplying its readers with information but also with opinions, comment and criticism. The sphere was created because to give the public a voice that the government could not ignore. The government attempts to maintain the public sphere; success of the public depends on:
-the extent of access
-the degree of autonomy
-the rejection of hierarchy
-the rule of law
-the quality of participation
For Habermas, the success of the public sphere was founded on rational-critical discourse. This is where everyone has the ability for equal participation and the best communication skill is the power of argument.

According to McNair there are five functions of the communication media in democratic societies. These are:
-Firstly to inform citizens of what is happening around them
-Secondly to educate as to the meaning and significance of the facts
-Thirdly the media must provide a platform for public political discourse
-Fourthly to give publicity to governmental and political institutions
-Finally the media must serve as a channel for the advocacy of political viewpoints.

New media such as the internet can facilitate and disrupt these functions. The internet has the power to aid democracy because it provides a platform where people are able to have their own voice through blogs, social network sites and youtube. They are also able to discuss these opinions in a group; I was able to discuss my views on the general elections last year and who I was thinking of voting for with my peers on Facebook. Newspaper websites are also able to inform the public, with their online articles sometimes having more detail than those in the actual paper. The internet is also a way for people to upload their own evidence of ‘newsworthy’ events; this could be images or videos. However the internet is not always a good source as not all information is correct, which leads to misinformed opinions. Authenticity and credibility are too big problems of using the internet as a sort of ‘public sphere’ as you can never be sure of where the exact origin of the information you are getting is from or how credible it is. So although the internet provides a space where like minded people can group together and discuss newsworthy events and a space for opinionated people to air their views the question is, is it the right place for them to do it?

I think today that the internet is the biggest provider of a public sphere as so many people have access to it, but that there should be some other place where we have a strong sense of a public sphere as the internet cannot always be trusted.

Maintaining Friendships Online

So this week we were introduced to the term social capital. Social capital ‘refers to features of social organisation such as networks, norms and social trust that facilitate co-ordination and co-operation for mutual benefit’ (Putnam 1999); so in other words its resources gathered through the relationships between people. Social capital can be used to analyse social relations and help researchers understand how they work on and offline.

Social capital is closely associated with social networking website such as Facebook. There are two types of ties that social network websites provide; these are ‘loose’ ties and ‘strong’ ties. These are social ties that are from people’s relationships and that form different connections. Weak ties are ‘loose connections between individuals who may provide useful information or new perspectives for one another but typically not emotional support’ (Granovetter 1982). On Facebook I have over 600 friends, most of whom are weak ties; they are people I have met once through a friend or met on a day trip. I would not share anything personal with these people however they may be useful for other things like finding out information on an event. Weak ties can also occur offline; during my time at uni I have made quite a few acquaintances. They are people I might say hello to because I was introduced to them through a friend, but our conversation would not be of any depth. Weak ties lead onto the term ‘bridging’ social capital. Bridging social capital are friends through a friend, which is something social networks advocate. Bridging social capital and loose ties can be maintained because websites like Facebook allow ‘users to create and maintain larger, diffuse networks of relationships from which they could potentially draw resources’ (Donath & boyd, 2004; Resnick, 2001; Wellman et al., 2001).

Unlike weak ties, strong ties provide the emotional support that weak ties are missing. Strong ties refer to family members and close friends who can provide the support causal friends couldn’t. On Facebook I have numerous family members as friend and all of my close friends; I would turn to one of these people if I had a problem over anyone else. Bonding social capital is found between individuals in tightly knit, emotionally close relationships and links with strong ties. These types of ties are said to increase social capital.

The internet is said to have a big effect on social capital as it can strengthen or weaken them. Some people also think that the internet may have problems maintaining these ties. The internet can strengthen ties as old friendships can be maintained on social networking sites, but on the other hand it can weaken individual’s social capital because it takes people away from face-to-face time with others.

Facebook is something that I use quite a lot because it helps me communicate and stay close to my family abroad as well as here in the UK, but who don’t live near me. I also use it to contact my friends at uni especially if we’re going to meet up to do work, as the website is quick and easy to use. The website has also provided me with a lot of useful opportunities and information which I got from ‘loose ties’, that without facebook I would not have.
I think that social capital is a good way to analyse social relations online. However it is hard to say whether social capital is increasing or decreasing because social network websites are not the only way that people connect with one another; there is the matter of how they connect offline.

Reading
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.html