Blogging: The New Public Sphere

John Naughton, writing in The Observer on the 10th anniversary of Blogger:

The long-term significance of Blogging is that it reverses a trend that had become increasingly worrying in an era dominated by mass media, namely the erosion of what the cultural critic Jurgen Habermas called “the public sphere” – an area where citizens gather to generate opinions and attitudes that affirm or challenge the actions of the state. Mass media offered the illusion of diversity while narrowing the range of real choices available – the “600 channels and nothing on” syndrome. Blogging has revived – and begun to expand – the public sphere, and in the process may revitalise our democracies.