Social Media as a New Form of Public Sphere

Abstract

The public sphere is a concept widely studied from many different disciplines such as political sciences, sociology, dhe communication sciences. It is crucial for the well-functioning of democracy, to have a well-structured process which creates the public opinion as a synthesis of individual thoughts acting for the common interest. The concept public sphere in itself and its formation process has gone through a lot of changes since the time where the german scholar Jurgen Habermas brought for the first time its definition. The appearance of the new medias and the development in the communication technology have brought huge transformations even in the conceptual term of public sphere and public discourse. Web communication, especially the communication handled in the dixhital environment is a completely new reality which needs to be explored. Social Media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube etc, are a new communication field being used from the public factors to communicate with the audiences. The technical opportunities that these platforms offer make it possible for the transmitter and the receiver of the message to communicate in a higher level. In contrast, virtuality serves as an inducement mean for the users in the social network to be near the participators in the process of communication.