Expanding the Public Sphere through Computer ... - ResearchGate

CHAPTER 5. MEASURING THE PUBLIC SPHERE 73
6.3, which apply these measures to the actions of participants in the talk.abortion
newsgroup during the study period. It should be noted here that the selection of
these four dimensions, as well as the selection of the specific newsgroup, are likely
to have a significant impact on the conclusions reached. Other dimensions, and
other issues, would likely produce alternative results. The value of this research is
to begin to develop specific dimensions of the public sphere that can be analyzed
and operatationalized, and to begin to understand the nature of computer mediated
discussion.
In the informal zone of the public sphere, structural equality is achieved with equal
access to speaking opportunities and equal distribution of voice among the speakers.
Only the latter dimension of equality will be measured here. The nature of a
Usenet newsgroup provides an equality of access to speaking opportunities to anyone
who wishes to join the conversation. 3 Of more immediate concern here is the
second dimension, equality of voice. Equality in the idealized state would suggest
that all participants ought to contribute equally – that is, each author ought to contribute
an equal number of messages. Rates of participation among participants,
though only implicitly included in Habermas’s conception of the public sphere,
is familiar in democratic theory. One indicator of equality is equal protection of
interests of members. Equality of interests could be measured by the distribution
of participation among participants. In plebiscites, equality is achieved when each
participates equally, the “one person, one vote” maxim, universally recognized as
a desirable end (Wolin 1960). Applying plebiscitary values to the informal zone of
the public sphere would suggest that equality is obtained when each participates
or contributes to the discussion in equal measure. Participation in a plebiscitary
sense could be measured by both frequency of expression and average quantity of
expression. Operationally, frequency of expression can be examined by the number
of messages contributed. Average quantity of expression can be measured by
the mean number of words contained in messages.
Diversity in the informal zone of the public sphere is focused on the presence
of a range of conversational patterns by the participants. A set of highly diverse
patterns of conversation would suggest a freedom of the participants to shape their
own conversational patterns, free from the constraints imposed by others. On the
other hand, a narrow range of conversational patterns would suggest the presence
3 Provided, of course, that the individual has the access to the technology and skills required
to participate in the medium. But no one is precluded from participation by rules governing the
management of the newsgroup itself.