This essay investigates the way in which distinctions between individual practices and collective participation have been reshaped through the political practices of selfie protest. From the viewpoint of micro–macro relations, selfie protest is a connective form of strategy to handle the tension between the public and private sphere over political and civic issues producing ephemeral public spheres. These spheres are visible both to ‘ad hoc’ publics and to the mass media, performing the function of ‘irritating’ the latter. Online participation is therefore the product of a tension between the desire for social inclusion and the desire to be seen in public, and it is this tension that leads make visible a ‘we sense’, a shared sentiment that develops into a common.
Networked Participation: Selfie Protest and Ephemeral Public Spheres
Boccia Artieri Giovanni
2021
Abstract
This essay investigates the way in which distinctions between individual practices and collective participation have been reshaped through the political practices of selfie protest. From the viewpoint of micro–macro relations, selfie protest is a connective form of strategy to handle the tension between the public and private sphere over political and civic issues producing ephemeral public spheres. These spheres are visible both to ‘ad hoc’ publics and to the mass media, performing the function of ‘irritating’ the latter. Online participation is therefore the product of a tension between the desire for social inclusion and the desire to be seen in public, and it is this tension that leads make visible a ‘we sense’, a shared sentiment that develops into a common.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
