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Social Media and the Digital Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere

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  • Staab, Philipp
  • Thiel, Thorsten

Abstract

This article explores the question of how to understand social media following the Habermasian theory of the structural transformation of the public sphere. We argue for a return to political-economic fundamentals as the basis for analysing the public sphere and seek to establish a characteristic connection between digital-behavioural control and singularised audiences in the context of proprietary markets. In the digital constellation, it is less a matter of immobilising the citizen as a consumer but rather of their political activation – albeit in conditions under which commercial interests have primacy: privatisation without privatism.

Suggested Citation

  • Staab, Philipp & Thiel, Thorsten, 2022. "Social Media and the Digital Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 39(4), pages 129-143.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:264182
    DOI: 10.1177/02632764221103527
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    References listed on IDEAS

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