To what extent do you think that the internet is the new public sphere that facilitates freedom of ideas?

To what extent do you think that the internet is the new public sphere that facilitates freedom of ideas?

Jürgen Habermas, a German sociologist and philosopher, introduced the concept of the public sphere in his treatise, 'The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere' in 1962. Habermas states that in the eighteenth century, the public sphere originated in public meeting spaces with the intent of having an open forum where individuals, regardless of hierarchy, could debate, discuss and exchange news and concerns without control from authorities and commercial interests. The meetings demonstrated that reason was collective and brought about through public debate rather than independent analysis. Despite the public sphere being egalitarian, its members were mostly educated and middle upper class who governed the topics of conversation and set the tone of public debate. It was restricted to civil society as ordinary members of the public remained largely illiterate without access to media and were more focused on surviving rather than discussing abstract rights (Habermas, 1962).

However with the emergence of traditional media, information became equally accessible and brought about a sense of community. Nevertheless information produced by newspapers, radio and TV was regulated by commercialism and filtered accordingly. In the 21st century, the innovation of the Internet has changed the way in which we receive information and offers a platform for everyone, providing they have Internet access, to have a voice. Erik Ringmar (2007) asserts that “the internet, just as the public sphere once described by the revolutionary republicans, is a remarkably egalitarian kind of place. On the web, just as in the ideal republic, it doesn't matter who you are, but only what you say.” This essay will attempt to demonstrate that the Internet is indeed the new public sphere and not only does it facilitate ideas, it has also extended beyond that to shape a new world ethically, socially and politically.

Forums for debating political viewpoints on film and on television are under the control of professional media organizations, and their formats often restrict public input. Very recently, user-generated online video (UGOV) has emerged as a dynamic information and communication audiovisual technologies (ICTs) that individual citizens can use to evocatively express and then exchange their ideas, thoughts and concerns. UGOV has allowed hundreds of thousands of audiovisual content creators and gatherers to upload clips and video blogs to video portal sites such as YouTube, Revver and Google Video.

These videos can be accessed by anyone with adequate computer hardware, software and Internet bandwidth, and video-posters and viewers can communicate through textual and video commentaries as well as video rating systems. Since its beginnings in February 2005, YouTube has become the most popular video portal online, and in the top ten most popular websites accessed globally (Alexa.com, 2008). To assess the opportunities and limits of this new type of freedom of expression, our study surveyed YouTube users in Atlantic Canada as well as Atlantic ...