Topic

The Internet (Responses to Esther Mellul)

Instructions

Write a response 50-75 words.

Esther

I do think that cyberspace has become the “new public space”, in the sense that people are able to all come together in a public domain and share their thoughts in a democratic way. However, I also think that anything that goes from the real world to the virtual one is going to change. The way people interact online versus the way people interact in person is very different, and even though they can accomplish similar things, they do it in dissimilar ways.

I think the internet is a mix of both a public space and a public sphere because it encourages democratic dialogue. However, if someone cannot afford a computer, they are not represented in the so-called ‘public, democratic’ dialogue.

The internet definitely enables people to talk openly about their views and read about opposing views, however I don’t know if it offers a new hope for democracy. As Chaffee and Metzger (2001) as well as Dionne and Suro (2008) alluded to, the media is able to persuade how the public frames certain issues, so it begs the question if it is truly democratic. For example, without getting political, throughout this past election the media constantly bombarded the American public with the idea that Hilary was going to win and there was no way Trump would be able to beat her. This viewpoint very much affected the American public but also the outside world, so that when Trump did win, people everywhere were shocked because they thought he had no chance. The media’s thinking infiltrated the public’s thinking and, in essence, ‘forced’ the public to think in a certain way about the election and its outcome.

Answer Preview

I agree with you that internet has become both public sphere and public space, with people interacting in the broadest manner in history of media.

Word count: 79