Jeff Jarvis gets at the core issue with his post “Confusing *a* public with *the* public”. As I’ve said time and time again, people do want to engage in public, but not the same public that includes all of you. Jarvis relies on Habermas, but the right want to read this is through the ideas of Michael Warner’s “Publics and Counterpublics”. Facebook was originally a counterpublic, a public that people turned to because they didn’t like the publics that they had accessed to. What’s happening now is ripping the public that was created to shreds and people’s discomfort stems from that.
A fascinating take on why the latest Facebook moves are meeting so much resistance. It’s always nice to read a post that introduces me to intriguing new ideas – especially one as cogent and passionate (she calls it a rant, although by blogging standards it’s a mild one) as this.
