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CHAPTER 7. THE EXPANDING PUBLIC SPHERE 106 are a function of the number of contributions made to the newsgroup. This finding suggests that reciprocity is not only high, but a function of participation rather than social attributes. The fact that the newsgroup was found to be diverse and reciprocal, but neither equal nor of quality, poses a challenge for those wishing to understand the public sphere. It could be that the particular topic at hand – abortion – is likely to result in a public shere with this particular configuration. On the other hand, it could be that the communications technology employed – computer mediated discussion – yields these results. Additional research in which the topic and the technology are systematically varied is necessary to understand the relationship between these two factors and the dimensions of the public sphere. Computer mediated technologies, including those deployed today as Usenet newsgroups, have great potential to strengthen the crucial informal zone. Even though the group was found to be inequal and of less-than-hoped for quality, the possible “solutions” to these problems would cause more harm than good. For example, having an individual moderate the newsgroup – deciding which messages to allow, and which messages to exclude – would have the effect of introducing editorial control into the public sphere. Once the power to manage the group is removed from each individual participant, and transfered to a “representative” of the participants, the democratic character of the arena is compromised. The impact of such a solution would be to reduce the conversation to reflect those topics the editor deemed appropriate, and prevent it from being the open-ended and wide-ranging forum that it is. These are precisely the qualities that Habermas (1996) suggests ought to be part of the construction of the informal zone of the public sphere. Alternatively, individual participants ought to develop the skills to self-manage their conversations. In the newsgroup environment, these skills can be as simple as ignoring messages by specific authors and as complex as writing programs to automatically exclude such messages. Opportunities to engage other citizens in conversation always have a net benefit to democracy. The quality of the informal zone of the public sphere is improved every time citizens discuss political issues in a public setting that is equal, diverse, reciprocal and of high quality. Such opportunities to expand the informal zone of the public sphere ought to be encouraged whenever and wherever possible.
Appendix A The talk.abortion newsgroup, August 9, 1994 This Appendix describes the talk.abortion newsgroup as a reader would have found it on August 9, 1994. It assumes that the the news server expires articles after seven days. Table A.1 lists the threads to which articles were posted, and the number of articles available within each thread. Table A.2 on page 117 identifies the names of authors contributing articles, and the number of articles contributed by each. Table A.3 on page 122 contains the first 50 articles from the Pro-life Gunman kills two in FL thread. Material in this appendix is discussed in Chapter 1. Table A.1: Articles available on talk.abortion newsgroup, August 9, 1994 # Title of Thread 95 Re: Pro-life Gunman kills two in FL 50 Re: Another ”pro-life” murderer shows the true nature of a ”cause” 41 Re: treating woman as containers 36 Re: Rights 24 Re: kotm nomination: mark o. wilson 23 Re: Go on... 22 Re: ”Abortion doctor’s killing is Pro-Choice dogma’s inevitability” 107
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CHAPTER 1. COMPUTERS, CONVERSATION
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 177 Best, Michael L. 1
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 179 Fisher, Bonnie, Mi
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 181 Hiltz, Starr Roxan
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 183 Mansbridge, Jane.
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