From “the” Public Sphere to a Network of Publics: Rethinking Contemporary Public Communication Spaces

Keynote presented at the symposium "Perspectives on Public Spheres and the Network of Publics", Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 6 Oct. 2025.

1. From “the” Public Sphere to a Network of Publics: Rethinking Contemporary Public Communication Spaces Axel Bruns Australian Laureate Fellow Digital Media Research Centre Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia [email protected] Bluesky: @snurb.info | Mastodon: @[email protected] | Xitter : @snurb_dot_info

2. The Public Sphere ?

3. “Mediated political communication” “Carried on by an elite” “On a virtual stage of mediated communication” ( Habermas, 2006 ) Public Sphere Photo by Mike Philipp on Unsplash

4. Image: Midjourney

5. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/1412688.1412691 (Image: Julien Beaus é jour) ‘The’ Public Sphere, Today? Mainstream media Niche media Publics, communities, … Everyday communication ‘Wild Flows’

6. Fragmentation Platformisation Hyperconnectivity Interoperability Enshittification A Network of Publics Image: Midjourney

7. Publics, Crowds, … Triggered by issues and events Fast-moving and short-lived Limited in focus and scope Public Spherules (incl. Groups, Communities) Defined by topics and themes More persistent and stable Broader scope but unified by common theme Public Spheres? Domain-, identity-, platform-specific E.g. political, Indigenous, Twittersphere Persistent and highly visible Encompassing relevant publics and spherules ‘The’ Public Sphere? Traditionally, an arena for public debate amongst elites in front of mass media audiences Now, the sum total of smaller publics, spherules, and spheres? Digital Publics and ‘the’ Public Sphere

8. ‘The’ Public Sphere? No, but subsets: ‘The’ public sphere Public sphere s – e.g. political, cultural, Indigenous, … / blogosphere, Twittersphere, … Public spherules / sphericules – e.g. on various larger themes Issue publics – e.g. on specific issues, events, topics Personal publics – around individuals, e.g. around social media profiles … but maybe not quite so hierarchical https://www.rawpixel.com/image/6536163/vector-sticker-public-domain-blue

9. Communities? Audiences? Publics? Crowds? Groups?

10. Small number, known to each other Shared interests, values, and aims Stable relationships and distinct roles Groups Photo by Saksham Gangwar on UnSplash

11. Small number, known to each other Shared interests, values, and aims Stable relationships and distinct roles Groups How and Where to Find Them Strong, repeated, stable interconnections / interactions Shared language, identity markers, media objects Similar activity patterns

12. Larger, key members known to each other Shared but contestable interests, values, and aims More complex structure involving centre and periphery, leaders and followers Communities Photo by Jacinto Diego on Unsplash

13. Larger, key members known to each other Shared but contestable interests, values, and aims More complex structure involving centre and periphery, leaders and followers Communities How and Where to Find Them Repeated, stable interconnections / interactions Emergence of influential lead participants Centre / periphery distinctions (e.g. 1/9/90 , Pareto : creators, contributors, lurkers ) More interactions within community than outside it (e.g. E-I Index ) Broadly shared language, identity markers, media objects

14. Much larger and much less knowable Transient and temporarily gathered in one space (online or offline) Some shared identity or interests but no universally shared values Crowd Photo by Joseph Chan on Unsplash

15. Much larger and much less knowable Transient and temporarily gathered in one space (online or offline) Some shared identity or interests but no universally shared values Crowd How and Where to Find Them Large to very large number of participants Strong activity for limited period of time, or around defined issues Similar activity patterns, but limited interaction between participants Shared language, identity markers, media objects relating to specific driving issue

16. Centred around shared interest, issue, text Capable of forming and dissolving rapidly (e.g. ad hoc publics , issue publics, …) Aware of each other and able to communicate publicly May develop shared values through their communication Capable of organising in support of a common goal Public Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

17. Centred around shared interest, issue, text Capable of forming and dissolving rapidly (e.g. ad hoc publics , issue publics, …) Aware of each other and able to communicate publicly May develop shared values through their communication Capable of organising in support of a common goal Public How and Where to Find Them Large to very large number of participants Strong activity for limited period of time, or around defined issues Similar activity patterns, and greater levels of interaction between participants Shared language, identity markers, media objects relating to specific driving issue Centring around key values can produce longer-term structures and leadership

18. Centred around a shared (media) text Large but dispersed and usually unknown to each other Unlikely to share values beyond central common interest Incapable of acting together Audience Photo by Ben Tofan on Unsplash

19. Centred around a shared (media) text Large but dispersed and usually unknown to each other Unlikely to share values beyond central common interest Incapable of acting together Audience How and Where to Find Them Unified by central text (live performance, media object, event / issue hashtag, …) Participant numbers from niche to very large Observing rather than actively contributing Therefore invisible to and unaware of each other Often imagined and assumed rather than tangibly traceable

20. a beautiful photorealistic painting of the public sphere (via Midjourney ) an extremely complex 3d topographic model of the networked public sphere (via Midjourney ) a beautiful photorealistic painting of the public sphere Why Do We Care? Metaphors matter: Making complex intangible concepts intelligible Providing a common language for analysis Enabling better diagnosis of issues and problems Informing practical action, business strategies, and policy-making If there is no one public sphere any more, how do we ensure every citizen is well-informed about what is happening in the world, and able to exercise their democratic rights and obligations?

21. Function and Dysfunction

22. ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Publics Forms of publics: Publics ( Warner, 2002 ) Hegemonic publics Subaltern counterpublics ( Fraser, 1990 ) Issue publics ( Habermas, 2006 ) Ad hoc publics ( Bruns & Burgess, 2011 ) Parasitic publics ( Larson & McHendry Jr., 2019 ) Phantasmagoric publics ( Badola, forthcoming ) Affective publics ( Papacharissi, 2014 ) … Image: Midjourney

23. Ready access to information enables spread of ‘fake news’, hyperpartisanship, and polarisation. (But also social connection and community support.) Hyperpartisans, Hyperconnected (https://twitter.com/bigfudge212121/status/1259317174776115201)

24. (https://theconversation.com/we-live-in-an-age-of-fake-news-but-australian-children-are-not-learning-enough-about-media-literacy-141371)

25. Image: Midjourney Polarisation

26. Forms of Polarisation Polarisation at what level? Issue-based: disagreements over specific policy settings Ideological: fundamental differences based on political belief systems Affective: political beliefs turned into deeply felt in-group / out-group identity Perceived: view of society, as based on personal views and media reporting Interpretive: reading of issues, events, and media coverage based on personal views Interactional: manifested in choices to interact with or ignore other individuals/groups (and more…)

27. Agonism? Polarisation? Dysfunction? How bad is it, exactly? All politics is polarised (just not to the point of dysfunction) Much ( most ?) politics is multipolar, not just left/right When does mild antagonism turn into destructive polarisation? We suggest five symptoms ( Esau et al., 2024 ): breakdown of communication; discrediting and dismissing of information; erasure of complexities; exacerbated attention and space for extreme voices; exclusion through emotions. Image: Midjourney

28. Mapping Publics Network analysis of ‘the’ public sphere: Internal structures, external relations Flows of information and attention Clusters and disconnections Discursive alliances and antagonisms Practice mapping as a framework: From direct interactions … … to similarities in practices (more on this tomorrow!)

29. If we identify these symptoms: what can we do about them?

30. Thank you Image: Midjourney

31. This research is supported by the Australian Research Council through the Australian Laureate Fellowship project Determining the Dynamics of Partisanship and Polarisation in Online Public Debate . Acknowledgments