sphere sphere

The public sphere is essentially a place where members of a society can convene and freely express opinions of any sort. As Habermas defines it, "By 'public sphere' we mean first of all a realm of our social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed. Access is guaranteed to all citizens. A portion of the public sphere comes into being in every conversation in which private individuals assemble for form a public body" (49). The footnote however states, "Habermas' concept of the public sphere is not to be equated with that of 'the public,' i.e. of the individuals who assemble. His concept is directed instead at the institution, which to be sure only assumes concrete form through the participation of the people. It cannot, however, be characterized simply as a crowd" (49).

The private sphere is the complement to the public sphere. It is the area of life in which a member of a society is free from the authority of institutions such as the government. It can be home or family life, for example.

Blog discussions, like the one at http://www.dailykos.com for example, are particularly interesting in this case. I would argue that the Daily Kos blog discussions do constitute public sphere, but that the nature of an internet blog changes the context of Habmermas' words. To elaborate:

The Daily Kos blog is a good example of public sphere. I'm not sure how writers are selected or permitted to post articles but it seems that the featured articles are written by members of site. The "Midday Open Thread" features bullet point summaries of various articles; clicking on one of the links brings you to the full article, usually hosted on another site. The articles themselves are not biased, but strictly factual. However, this sort of site is a good example of public sphere because anyone who signs up to be a member of the site can post comments on the thread of any article, and these can be totally opinionated. What is interesting about internet based discussion, though, is that any post can be written from within a particular author's private sphere, perhaps from the safe comfort of his or her own bedroom. In this sense the Daily Kos blog represents both the public and private sphere is certain ways. But, as is the case with any blog that claims to be factual, posting an article can mean that the author is subject to a certain set of rules or guidelines, and is therefore under the rule of an institution.