scholarly journals Brevity is the Soul of Twitter: The Constraint Affordance and Political Discussion

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kokil Jaidka ◽  
Alvin Zhou ◽  
Yphtach Lelkes
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
The Public ◽  
Series Design ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Technological Affordances

Abstract Many hoped that social networking sites would allow for the open exchange of information and a revival of the public sphere. Unfortunately, conversations on social media are often toxic and not conducive to healthy political discussions. Twitter, the most widely used social network for political discussions, doubled the limit of characters in a tweet in November 2017, which provided an opportunity to study the effect of technological affordances on political discussions using a discontinuous time series design. Using supervised and unsupervised natural language processing methods, we analyzed 358,242 tweet replies to U.S. politicians from January 2017 to March 2018. We show that doubling the permissible length of a tweet led to less uncivil, more polite, and more constructive discussions online. However, the declining trend in the empathy and respectfulness of these tweets raises concerns about the implications of the changing norms for the quality of political deliberation.

Challenges for an SNS-based public sphere in 2016

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
pp. 1106-1123
Author(s):  
Kyle John Lorenzano ◽  
Miles Sari ◽  
Colin Harrell Storm ◽  
Samuel Rhodes ◽  
Porismita Borah
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Willingness To Use

PurposePolitical polarization and incivility manifested itself online throughout the 2016 US presidential election. The purpose of this paper is to understand how features of social media platforms (e.g. reacting, sharing) impacted the online public sphere during the 2016 election.Design/methodology/approachAfter conducting in-depth interviews with politically interested young people and applying deductive coding procedures to transcripts of the interviews, Dahlberg’s (2004) six normative conditions for the public sphere were used to empirically examine this interview data.FindingsWhile some participants described strategies for productive political discussion on Social Networking Sites (SNS) and a willingness to use them to discuss politics, many users’ experiences largely fall short of Dahlberg’s (2004) normative criteria for the public sphere.Research limitations/implicationsThe period in which these interviews were conducted in could have contributed to a more pessimistic view of political discussion in general.Practical implicationsScholars and the public should recognize that the affordances of SNS for political discussion are not distributed evenly between different platforms, both for the sake of empirical studies of SNS moving forward and the state of democratic deliberation.Originality/valueAlthough previous research has examined online and SNS-based political discussion as it relates to the public sphere, few attempts have been made understand how specific communicative practices or platform-specific features of SNS have contributed to or detracted from a healthy public sphere.

scholarly journals A Review of the Halal Poultry Slaughtering from Welfare and Legal Perspectives: Analysis of Research Results

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-27
Author(s):  
Karrar Imad Abdulsahib Al-Shammari
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Animal Cruelty ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Current Review ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Controversial Aspect

The subject of halal slaughtering is one of the most widely discussed issues of animal cruelty and animal welfare in the public sphere. The discrepancy in understanding the contemporary and religious laws pertaining to animal slaughtering does not fully publicize to Islamic and Muslim majority countries especially with respect to interpreting the use of stunning in animals. The electrical stunning is the cheapest, easiest, safest, and most suitable method for slaughtering that is widespread and developed. However, stunning on head of poultry before being slaughtered is a controversial aspect among the Islamic sects due to regulations of the European Union and some other countries. The current review highlights the instructions of halal slaughtering, legal legislation, and the effect of this global practice on poultry welfare and the quality of produced meat.

scholarly journals Rethinking science communication in a changing landscape

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (03) ◽  
pp. E
Author(s):  
Frank Kupper ◽  
Carolina Moreno-Castro ◽  
Alessandra Fornetti
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Selection Of

Science communication continues to grow, develop and change, as a practice and field of research. The boundaries between science and the rest of society are blurring. Digitalization transforms the public sphere. This JCOM special issue aims to rethink science communication in light of the changing science communication landscape. How to characterize the emerging science communication ecosystem in relation to the introduction of new media and actors involved? What new practices are emerging? How is the quality of science communication maintained or improved? We present a selection of papers that provide different perspectives on these questions and challenges.

Conclusions: Reclaiming the Public in Policing

2019 ◽  
pp. 146-172
Author(s):  
Paul Mutsaers
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Public Anthropology ◽  
Public Character ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Conceptual Work

This concluding chapter synergizes the previous chapters and adds something new. Both functions are captured by the title, Reclaiming the Public in Policing. First, it argues that the empirical and conceptual work in this book points at the corrosion of the public character of policing, which results in law enforcement agencies that find it increasingly difficult to exclude politics, particularism, and populism from their operations. This part of the chapter concludes that it is imperative that we ‘unthink’ bureaucracy as the social evil of our time and revalue the public contours of policing. A second way to reclaim the ‘public’ in policing, now defined not as a quality of the police but an engaged citizenry that is involved in public debates on the police, concerns the role of police scholars in the public sphere. The chapter advocates a public anthropology of police and reflects on the author's efforts to ‘go public’.

scholarly journals Indigenous journalism, media innovation, and social change: A review of previous research and call for more critical approaches

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-206
Author(s):  
Niamh Ní Bhroin ◽  
Stine Sand ◽  
Torkel Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Indigenous Voice ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Technological Affordances ◽  
Analytical Approaches ◽  
And Diffusion

Abstract Indigenous journalism can facilitate the inclusion of Indigenous voices in the public sphere, thereby contributing to social change. Contemporary Indigenous journalism is in part facilitated by the introduction and diffusion of paradigmatic media innovations, including the Internet, mobile technology, and social media. Based on a literature review, we investigate how media innovations are understood to facilitate Indigenous journalism and find that few empirical studies directly address this question. Analyses of Indigenous journalism, reaching beyond the potential for increased access to media and for amplification of Indigenous voice, are lacking. Furthermore, little research investigates how the appropriation of new technological affordances influence the production of Indigenous journalism. Our review also indicates that while Indigenous political participation can be facilitated by media innovation, these innovations can also serve to reinforce existing power relations. We submit that more critical analytical approaches are required to investigate how media innovations might facilitate the potential of Indigenous journalism for social change.

scholarly journals WHO CONTROLS THE ARAB PUBLIC SPHERE IN THE ERA OF NEW MEDIA, THE NEW REVOLUTIONISTS OR THE DEEP STATE?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 312-323
Author(s):  
Nawaf Abdelhay Altamimi
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
Web Based ◽  
The Public ◽  
Deep State ◽  
The Web

Recent events in Arab countries, particularly in Tunisia, Egypt have shown that new modes of communications such as Mobile phones and social networking sites have facilitated civil society's organization by allowing a timely exchange of opinions and ideas. Youth protesters in uprising societies have recognised the value of Mechanisms in which the public can meet and discuss and share ideas openly, recognise problems and suggest solutions (Caplan and Boyd, 2016). Those Young demonstrators have taken to social media such as Facebook and Twitter online to organize social prodemocracy movements and start the revolution, demonstrating how the Web-based platforms have become a crucial alternative media instrument for advocacy in today's Digital Age. (Kenix, 2009).

Political Deliberation & the Adversarial Principle

Daedalus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 146 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Manin
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
The Public ◽  
Collective Decisions ◽  
Political Deliberation ◽  
The Public Sphere

Retrieving an insight dating back to antiquity, this essay argues that the confrontation of opposing views and arguments is desirable in political deliberation. But freedom of speech and diversity among deliberators do not suffice to secure that outcome. Therefore we should actively facilitate and encourage the presentation of contrary opinions during deliberation. Such confrontation is our best means of improving the quality of collective decisions. It also counteracts the pernicious fragmentation of the public sphere. It facilitates the comprehension of choices. Lastly, arguing for and against a given decision treats the minority with respect. This essay proposes practical ways of promoting adversarial deliberation, in particular the organization of debates disconnected from electoral competition.

The Potential of Political Changes in the Information Age

2014 ◽  
pp. 37-59
Author(s):  
Anas Alahmed
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
New Media ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Real Life ◽  
The Public ◽  
Citizen Activism ◽  
The Public Sphere

In non-democratic societies new media social networks have played a significant role in changing political and social positions, not necessarily through real life but, instead, through cyber life. This chapter examines how Saudi activists challenge the political authority and how Saudi citizens took advantage of publicity by demanding political change. All of this happened due to social networks and new media, which allowed citizens to mobilize information for the sake of transparency. This was a new phenomenon in Saudi Arabia. The current young generation of Saudis, who use the Internet and social networking sites, played a significant role in the public sphere by making use of the space available to them within cyberspace. This chapter discusses the potential of political information to flourish in Saudi Arabia. It examines how and why citizen activism in Saudi Arabia can be effective. The chapter also shows that social networking activities have the power to change political decisions and society.

Lottocratic Institutions from a Participatory Perspective

2019 ◽  
pp. 138-160
Author(s):  
Cristina Lafont
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Democratic Control ◽  
Political Deliberation ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
High Road ◽  
Political Decisions

This chapter explores how we might institutionalize deliberative minipublics in order to serve genuinely democratic goals. In contrast to empowered uses of minipublics that would bypass the citizenry’s political deliberation, citizens could use minipublics for contestatory, vigilant, and anticipatory purposes. These uses of minipublics would improve the quality of deliberation in the public sphere and would also force the political system to take the high road of properly involving the citizenry in the political process. The chapter illustrates these potential forms of “deliberative activism” with the help of examples of actual deliberative polls that James Fishkin has conducted over several decades. This analysis shows how deliberative minipublics can help improve the democratic quality of political deliberation in the public sphere while strengthening citizens’ democratic control over political decisions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document