CREATING A DEMOCRATIC PUBLIC SPHERE THROUGH POLITICAL DISCUSSION - A CASE-STUDY OF ABORTION CONVERSATION ON THE INTERNET

Computer-mediated discussion is an increasingly popular method of enga ging in political talk with other citizens. This article presents a ca se study of a Usenet newsgroup focused on abortion, and discusses the creation of a public sphere by the conversants. The notion of the publ ic sphere is discussed, and measures allowing an assessment of its dem ocratic character are proposed. A formula for estimating entropy is de veloped and applied to data obtained from the case study of an ongoing discussion. A high level of inequality in participation among convers ants is noted, with very few of the discussants responsible for an ext raordinarily high proportion of the content. This inequality, though t empered by analysis of the newsgroup on a day-to-day basis, calls into question the democratic character of the public sphere represented by this conversation.