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February 6, 2009

Howard Rheingold's Public Sphere in Internet Age Widget

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about 3 years ago francesbell responded:

An interesting peroration on the public sphere - was this stream of consciousness or could it have been simultaneously capture in text?

about 3 years ago Howard Rheingold responded:

Howard Rheingold

I've been teaching Zaret for a few years, and have explained a couple of times why digital journalists and social media students should care about what happened with print culture and the English civil wars, so although it was more or less stream of consciousness, it was based on minirants I have made for some time.

about 3 years ago Melanie McBride responded:

Melanie McBride

Hear hear. I could use this in a politics/civics course as well as a web course. I'd like to see some curriculum/activities built around these kinds of materials. For this video, a set of related questions would be nice.

about 3 years ago Howard Rheingold responded:

Howard Rheingold

If you come up with questions, I can add them to the widget eventually. One advantage of Sproutbuilder.

about 3 years ago Melanie McBride responded:

Melanie McBride

QUESTIONS:

1) What is the role of the internet in the future of genuine democracy and citizenship?

2) What are the similiarities or differences between traditional publishing models and current electronic publishing models (in relation to citizenship and civic life)?

3) What is "noise" in the context of information about the state and public opinion? What is "signal"?

4) What conditions need to be present for ordinary citizens influence the public sphere? (i.e.., literacies, freedom of speech, etc)

5) What technology and internet tools can citizens use to take part in democratic action online?

6) What are the most common myths and miconceptions about bloggers and citizen media producers? (in relation to "professional" and "authorized" voices)

7) How have, personally, contributed to digital citizenship?

about 3 years ago Melanie McBride responded:

Melanie McBride

sorry, that last one should be "how have you, personally, contributed to digital citizenship"

about 3 years ago dtoews (Twitter) responded:

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critical theory of the frankfurt school variety creates a certain pessimistic wall that, i agree, historical investigation can create cracks and fissures in...the public sphere to me means peoples' collective actions, yes, and what is interesting is collective action takes place in a context in which the same people imagine a community larger than themselves, 'greater' than individuals, groups and factions...the empowerment of collective actions depends on this imaginative sensation of a 'sphere' that transcends the ordinary...i believe that the historical sociology of religion is essential for understanding how human beings have created rituals and practices that enable these important imaginings

almost 3 years ago (Facebook) responded:

Thanks for this, you make it all sound so simple!

about 2 years ago kevin dodd responded:

Yeah, enjoyed this. Keep it coming!

over 1 year ago Antony Mayfield liked this post.

over 1 year ago Howard Rheingold responded:

Howard Rheingold

This has been redone in htm+javascriptl (formerly Flash)

over 1 year ago birv2 (Twitter) liked this post.

over 1 year ago bobirv responded:

Great stuff, Howard! I would also recommend Barber's Jihad vs MacWorld. Though older (kind of pre-digital), it makes a great case for the continuance of the public sphere, and how the forces of religious fundamentalism (Jihad) and consumerism (MacWorld) both crowd out the notion of a public sphere.

over 1 year ago Howard Rheingold responded:

Howard Rheingold

Thanks, Bob. I had wondered about the Barber book -- whether it is still relevant.

over 1 year ago bobirv responded:

I think it's still very relevant, as both those forces are still very powerful. Perhaps even more so than when the book was published.

11 months ago George Roberts responded:

George Roberts

Nice learning object. I like the format video/articles/links.

And the content is spot-on, too.