Whither the Public Sphere:
Prospects for Cybersphere
Abstract
The civic-minded discussion and debate that occur in the
public sphere have been underpinnings of democracy for 2,500
years. But in the last 150 years, since the dawn of the
industrial age, the public sphere in America has withered. Some
observers foresee a rebirth of the public sphere in cyberspace;
i.e., a "cybersphere." They point to the Internet's unique
interactive architecture and practically unbounded bandwidth.
But judging by the unconscious atomization, commercialization and
hegemonic effects of earlier mass media, the prospects for
cybersphere are not good.
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