Online Public Spheres in the Era of Fake News: Implications for the Composition Classroom

Abstract

Abstract This article revisits Matt Barton's 2005 article Future of Rational-Critical Debate in Online Public Spheres in light of recent debates around misinformation and disinformation, data-driven influence campaigns, the blurring line between social media and news media, and the algorithmic incentivization of “fake news.” While today’s social media platforms exhibit many of the qualities that C.W. Mills and Jurgen Habermas associate with a healthy public sphere—communication between strangers is participatory, immediate, accessible, and decentralized—this article raises questions about the extent to which everyday digital writing and circulation practices align with broader democratic aspirations. The goal of this article is to explore not only what these social and technological developments mean for the health of public discourse, but also how we, as teachers of writing, can meaningfully engage with them in our classrooms. An appendix includes ideas for assignments that engage students in critical reflection about their own participation in today’s online public spheres.