Prospects for a New Form of the Public

Interactionist Analysis in the Public Sphere on the Net

Abstract

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) appears to generate a truly democratic public place by allowing “interactants” to meet as equals. Conventional wisdom holds that CMC eliminates the relevance and effects of social categories involved in the differentiation of power, authority and life chances. It believes that social categories such as gender, socio-economic status, race and so on are irrelevant to social interaction on the Net since interactants are anonymous and invisible to each other, whereas the categorical attributes of individuals are inferred from the appearance of individuals and employed in face-to-face contact. In reality, the fragmentation of interest due to extreme and vehement flaming is rampant, if not dominant on the Net. The gap between the expectation and reality is explained by observing behavior in public places mediated by computers instead of focusing on its technical attributes. A closer examination of social interaction on the Net reveals that interactants attempt to establish a stable self-identity, earn prestige and authority by means of contributing ideas and knowledge to ongoing discussions. In short, interactants use the Net to do what they are already doing in traditional public places. The salient characteristics of CMC thus constructed are ultimately embodied and implemented in the specification of computer programs, and hence the structure of the Net. The potential for democratic communication does not lie in a new communication technology per se, but in the structure of public places it mediates and the ways in which people there behave.