CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2011
| Author | Dodic Gruicic, Maja |
|---|---|
| Title | Internet and the Structural Transformation of Public Debate - A Comparison of the Online and Offline Public Spheres in Croatia |
| Summary | This thesis evaluates how the internet fits the concept of the public sphere and how different/similar Croatian online and offline public spheres are. In order to explain the first part of the problem, the thesis investigates how theories of Jurgen Habermas and Nancy Fraser, the major contributors to this field, can be applied to the internet. Hence, literature review reveals that a number of authors successfully apply this concept to the online environment and recognize the internet as the new public sphere. The second part of the analysis answers the question on how different Croatian offline and online public spheres are and how specific Twitter is in this aspect. In order to answer this question, a theoretical and practical analysis of these spheres is performed. First, the spheres are contrasted in accordance to the Habermas’ definition of the public sphere. Then, a content analysis of the selected television talk shows and relevant part of Twitter is conducted. The offline public sphere offers a source of topics of common concern and is therefore used as a reference point in the analysis of the discussions on Twitter. The content analysis of two television talk shows and relevant Twitter timelines produced surprising results. Among other things, discussions among Croatian Twitter users concerning topics of common concern are far less frequent than expected. In fact, majority of tweets actually do not involve interaction with other users. Contrary to expectations, the intensity of debate among Twitter users on given topics is lower than it is on the observed television shows. |
| Supervisor | Sefania Milan |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2011/dodic-gruicic_maja.pdf |
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