Public Spheres and Mediated Social Networks in the Western Context and Beyond

"Petros Iosifidis and Mark Wheeler's new book mobilizes some big and important themes on the structure of communication in today's world. Through a careful mix of theoretical discussion and examples, it sheds light on how the fractal and hybrid character of contemporary media systems shapes political action. This is a useful, up-to-date, and refreshingly panoramic perspective on the relationships between media, citizenship, governance, and policy." (Professor Andrew Chadwick, New Political Communication Unit, Royal Holloway, University of London) "The value and impact, in terms of enhancing democratic engagement, of social media is an extremely important topic. As millions globally take to social media and many of those intersperse interacting with friends, posting pictures from their daily lives with interactions about politics academia needs to critically evaluate what effects this has and might have. This important work by Iosifidis and Wheeler contributes theoretically and empirically to contemporaneous debates, importantly broadening these into a global focus to examine whether we can yet suggest ICTs are facilitating the formation of a public sphere." (Dr Darren G. Lilleker, Associate Professor, Political Communication, Bournemouth University)

Social media is said to radically change the way in which public communication takes place: information diffuses faster and can reach a large number of people, but what makes the process so novel is that online networks can empower people to compete with traditional broadcasters or public figures.Social media is said to radically change the way in which public communication takes place: information diffuses faster and can reach a large number of people, but what makes the process so novel is that online networks can empower people to compete with traditional broadcasters or public figures. This book critically interrogates the contemporary relevance of social networks as a set of economic, cultural and political enterprises and as a public sphere in which a variety of political and socio-cultural demands can be met. It examines policy, regulatory and socio-cultural issues arising from the transformation of communication to a multi-layered sphere of online and social networks. The central theme of the book is to address the following questions: Are online and social networks an unstoppable democratizing and mobilizing force?  Is there a need for policy and intervention to ensure the development of comprehensive and inclusive social networking frameworks? Social media are viewed both as a tool that allows citizens to influence policymaking, and as an object of new policies and regulations, such as data retention, privacy and copyright laws, around which citizens are mobilizing.