According to Habermas, “A portion of the public sphere comes into being in every conversation in which private individuals assemble to form a public body.” (Habermas 49) Facebook, which is comprised of a conglomeration of approximately 1.6 billion active users is perfectly poised to become a tool for the study of the propagation of messages and ideas. It is a space in which a public has formed, self-organized and self-moderated.
Inside of this public space, counterpublics have emerged and organized themselves with the tools provided by the medium in such a way that one can access data that puts a literal quantification of the number of members that are participating in any number of spheres of public discourse. Any savvy user of the site can gain access to lists of followers and data concerning active idea propagation as well as access to the ideas themselves and their reception among members of a given counterpublic.
Facebook is organized in such a way that any user who wishes to create a sphere of discourse surrounding an idea needs only to make a page or start a group dedicated to that idea and then begin working to attract users to the conversation. The user then either creates new discourse surrounding the topic or publishes already existing discourse which is then discussed and debated amongst the members of the sphere.
For example, there exists a popular Facebook page, branded as a “community” by the site’s organizational system, called “Lizzy the Lezzy.” The group is dedicated to providing its LGTBQ members with a space to discuss the prejudices they face on a daily basis, share stories of triumph over bigotry and anti-gay propaganda, and feel generally empowered as members of the LGTBQ community. Because of the tools provided by the medium in which this community appears, we can make many quantifiable observations about the counterpublic in question. 2,151,929 Facebook users have identified themselves as either LGTBQ or allies of the community by “liking” the page. As a result of this action, they become active members in the discourse and anything posted to the “Lizzy the Lezzy” page will show up on their news feeds for their perusal and the opportunity to contribute to the conversation via discourse.
This Facebook sphere is a counterpublic in Warner’s interpretation of the term,
… a counterpublic comes into being through an address to indefinite strangers. … But counterpublic discourse also addresses those strangers as being not just anybody. Addressees are socially marked by their participation in this kind of discourse; ordinary people are presumed to not want to be mistaken for the kind of person who would participate in this kind of talk or be present in this kind of scene. (Warner 86)
Any users of Facebook that are not LGTBQ or are not allies to the LGTBQ cause are free to avoid the discourse created within the community, though there are no membership requirements. Members are generally welcome to contribute discourse to the community, though often the content is moderated in some way before the group accesses it freely. The community itself also has the ability to block any contributors who are spreading messages that are counter to the mora of the group or the group’s creator. Membership in this group is not hidden. Any Facebook user can access a list of users that the user has designated as “friends” that have identified themselves with the community.
Counterpublics on Facebook do not necessitate agreement with particular ideas; they can form around individuals in the public eye, institutions, geographic communities manifesting themselves in meta-geographic space, and events. Erin Brokovich is a well-known environmental lawyer and activist who uses Facebook as a medium for spreading awareness around environmentally disastrous conditions. Though many of the discourse she posts to her followers is of a similar bent, the public that has formed around her as a public figure. Through her, users are able to contribute active participation in the spreading of awareness around any issue she poses.
Using one of Brokovich’s posts, we can quantify information regarding active participation surrounding an issue by studying the responses to it and noting the number of community members who “like” the message or “share” it with members outside of the group. On February 8th 2016, Brokovich posted a short examination of her stance on the issue of the flouridation of public water systems.
The post was “liked” by 6,193 of Brokovich's 580,584 followers, and 503 additional pieces of discourse concerning the issue were offered by users who left comments. When users particularly agree with a topic, they have the option to take the discourse and present it outside of the counterpublic in which it was generated. It is through this “sharing” action that discourse is circulated between publics with overlapping interests.
Facebook facilitates the conditions necessary for private individuals to form public spaces based on any number of criteria that the creator has in common with their followers. It provides the tools and the space necessary for the creation of modern discourse and the circulation of common ideas in a form that allows the knowledgeable observer to collect hard data about issues and particular pieces of discourse.
