Operation: Public Sphere Storm

I dunno but I been told! (I dunno but I been told!)
Blogging never will get old! (Blogging never will get old!)

You know what time it is, maggots?! Blog time! What time?! Blog time!

What'd the Major send us this week? Take a look!

Using Habermas's words and Practice of Looking Chapter 5, discuss whether the blog discussion constitutes 'public sphere'.

Now hold on one second? You're asking me what a public sphere is, maggots? Well, it can be defined in several different manners. German Theorist Jurgen Habermas describes the "public sphere" as a social realm that every person can access. Not only that, but within this public sphere, people are given far more freedom to express their views and opinions, in regards to a major public interest. Practices of Looking refers to Habermas' theories of the public sphere. Though Habermas had much preferred the idea of a more public setting, perhaps within a town meeting or a cafe, Practices of Looking argued that this kind of a public forum is possible within a variety of mediums. These can be anything from e-mails, chat groups, the news, talk radio, or even blog discussions.

Now then, with this in mind, let's take a look at Daily Kos: State of the Nation. From the top page, we can see a variety of topics at hand. Bloggers everywhere are discussing issues of Global Warming, the Swine Flu vaccination process, the fate of Iraqi refugees, the current state of the Republican party, and more. An even more striking feature is the Diary Rescue, which effectively bumps old topics up to the forefront, opening the possibilities of further discussion. This continued attention to detail and to past discussions indicates that no discussion is ever truly closed, and that new ideas are always ready to be formed about any issue at hand. Each topic at hand has a multitude of comments already, indicating that these issues have not disappeared from mind at all. The public is still referring to these topics, indicating a strong public sphere within the site.