THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST

Simply put, the Public Sphere Theory is known as the place where individuals are able to come together whenever, and discuss their views on certain social, cultural and political issues. This theory was created by Jürgen Habermas back then to describe the typical 18th century coffee house where individuals (mainly men) would gather to debate about common concerns.

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Over time, the Public Sphere Theory have evolved as new technological devices and social media platforms have come into play. Now, the common ‘Public Sphere’ would be the different social media platforms on the internet as a place where individuals (both men, women and children) from all over the world, can meet and discuss societal concerns. This is why media plays such an important role in this theory because not only is media the main source of broadcast globally, it’s also become the space where individuals go to in order to raise issues and comment on them.

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Going off this, my public sphere as of now, would definitely be twitter. Twitter is a free social media website that allows individuals to “tweet” about their life, concerns or share things by either retweeting or linking. This social media platform is used all over the world and unless, your twitter account is on private, anyone can like or retweet your tweets. As twitter says, “Follow everything from breaking news and entertainment, to sports, politics, and everyday interests. Then join the conversation”.

Twitter doesn’t ask for your age when signing up, however earlier on when twitter first started blowing up, it was stated in their policy that users have to be at least 13 years of age. This was then removed, however their policy still states that if they become aware they are taking personal information from an individual under the age of 13, they will start the process of removing information as well as the account itself. There are some countries with bad internet access or reception that cannot access social media in general and then there are countries, such as China and Turkey, which have specifically banned social media platforms like twitter. However, there are still millions of users using this platform all over the world.

Of course social media cannot be compared to the 18th century coffee house environment where individuals are able to have no filter whatsoever. Despite being able to post what you want online, there’s always going to be people who don’t like what your content, and instead of being able to just walk out in a coffee shop, there’s now a report button. Reporting what you say online can end in getting your post deleted or even your account suspended – hence what an individual says online has to be filtered.

I agree that this evolution over time has been for better than for worse as less are excluded and more are included in this public sphere. However, I still stand for the original idea of the public sphere, in a coffee shop except this time, it wouldn’t be mainly men. It can be whoever from wherever. We should aim to create a space where the limit to our public spheres, does not exist – and I believe that’s when you know that the public sphere has been enhanced for the good.

– G