Communication in the hyperconnected public sphere and the paths to democracy

Abstract

The texts that make up the dossier propose different theoretical perspectives and empirical approaches to the hyperconnected public sphere. Some texts invite reflections on the supposed transforming power of social media, on which the first step is to understand what is truly social about them. According to Christian Fuchs, social media need to move away from the idea of “a sphere colonized by capital and the state”, in order to become entirely social and common as an effective public sphere.