scholarly journals A digital public sphere:

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (68) ◽  
pp. 126-146
Author(s):  
Hilde Sakariassen
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Network Sites ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Public Deliberation ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Nationally Representative

Social network sites (SNS) have the potential of providing new and more egalitarian spaces for public deliberation, and researchers, media and politicians often discuss them in those terms. Still, little attention is given to how ordinary users perceive SNS as spaces for public deliberation. This study addresses this gap by investigating how SNS generally are perceived by the users as potential spaces for public deliberation and if this perception is conditioned by demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, level of education, use of Twitter, and activity in SNS. The study draws on users of SNS in a nationally representative survey from Norway (N=1699). The results show signifi cant diff erences in the perception of SNS as spaces for public deliberation according to both demographic characteristics and activity. More importantly, even if people are aware of SNS being portrayed as spaces for public deliberation, few are found to use them in such a way.

scholarly journals Public knowledge of alternative media in times of algorithmically personalized news

2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482110210
Author(s):  
Tilman Klawier ◽  
Fabian Prochazka ◽  
Wolfgang Schweiger
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Social Network Sites ◽  
Alternative Media ◽  
Public Knowledge ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Actual Knowledge ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Different Types

Citizens are likely to encounter various types of alternative media online, especially on algorithmically personalized news channels (APNC) like social network sites or search engines. It is unclear, however, to what degree they are aware of these outlets and familiar with the concept of alternative media. This study investigates the relation between exposure to alternative media and knowledge of them, taking the role of APNC into account. Analyzing representative survey data of German Internet users, we find a gap: While many individuals report to use alternative media, few of them are able to name alternative media titles matching scholarly conceptions. Although the use of APNC increases self-reported exposure to alternative media, it does not improve actual knowledge of them. All in all, many Internet users have little awareness of alternative media and do not clearly distinguish between different types of sources they come across online.

scholarly journals More Inclusion through Participation?

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Nikolova ◽  
Daniela Stelzmann
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Young People ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Network Sites ◽  
Analysis Technique

Due to their high user number, social network sites can be regarded as a public sphere and should be accessible to all democratic citizens. Nevertheless, there are some underrepresented social groups such as people with mild intellectual disabilities. This qualitative study investigates how young people with mild intellectual disabilities in Germany access, interact and participate on social network sites. Therefore, we conducted 8 qualitative interviews with young people with mild intellectual disabilities (and their caregivers, n=7) and analyzed the transcribed interviews with an inductive qualitative content analysis technique. Our participants described various ways of accessing, interacting and participating online (e.g., sharing their own content). Furthermore, our participants gathered both positive (e.g., gaining new friends) and negative (e.g., hate speech) experiences there. Moreover, our results give information about aspects of social network sites that should be altered so that a positive social change based on the inclusion principle can take place.

The Priority of Public Reasons and Religious Forms of Life in Constitutional Democracies

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Cristina Lafont
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Public Deliberation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Difficult Question ◽  
Political Deliberation ◽  
Forms Of Life ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Right ◽  
Mutual Accountability

In this essay I address the difficult question of how citizens with conflicting religious and secular views can fulfill the democratic obligation of justifying the imposition of coercive policies to others with reasons that they can also accept. After discussing the difficulties of proposals that either exclude religious beliefs from public deliberation or include them without any restrictions, I argue instead for a policy of mutual accountability that imposes the same deliberative rights and obligations on all democratic citizens. The main advantage of this proposal is that it recognizes the right of all democratic citizens to adopt their own cognitive stance (whether religious or secular) in political deliberation in the public sphere without giving up on the democratic obligation to provide reasons acceptable to everyone to justify coercive policies with which all citizens must comply.

Spontaneous self-affirmation before and during COVID-19: Associations with information-seeking, worry and adherence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy Epton ◽  
Chris Keyworth ◽  
Chris Armitage
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Opposite Direction ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Brief Interventions ◽  
Adaptive Behaviors ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
Nationally Representative

Objective: To assess the extent of spontaneous self-affirmation pre COVID-19 and during COVID-19 pandemic to identify for whom self-affirmation interventions might be helpful; and the extent to which spontaneous self-affirmation is associated with increased information-seeking, worry and adherence to UK government instructions. Methods: Two large nationally-representative surveys of UK adults were conducted via YouGov in March 2019 (pre COVID-19; N = 10421) and April 2020 (during COVID-19; N = 2252); both surveys measured demographic characteristics and spontaneous self-affirmation. The latter survey included measures of time spent accessing COVID-19 related news, worry about COVID-19 related news and degree of adherence to UK government instructions. Results: Spontaneous self-affirmation was lower before COVID-19 (44%) than it was during the pandemic (57%), although the pattern was in the opposite direction among older adults. Older adults were more likely to spontaneously self-affirm during COVID-19 than pre COVID-19. Greater spontaneous self-affirmation was associated with more time spent accessing news, and greater adherence to UK government instructions, but not media-related worry. Conclusions: The threat of COVID-19 may have triggered greater levels of spontaneous self-affirmation, which could give people the resources they needed to allow them to seek COVID-19-related news and adhere to UK government instructions. Groups lower in spontaneous self-affirmation, such as younger people could be targeted with brief interventions to promote self-affirmation and encourage performance of adaptive behaviors.

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