Google Fast Flip and the Public Sphere
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 by Simon
After exploring the Google Fast Flip application I have come to the conclusion that it does not follow the principles of the public sphere. The tabs; popular, recent, most viewed and headlines all serve as biases and sub-consciously tell the user that these are the stories that they should be reading. In this way the application is no different to a newspaper where an editor picks the front-page stories which will subsequently get the most attention. Yes it is easier to use than a newspaper and does have the option to search for other articles of interest but on the surface shares the same basic structure.
This is another example of the arguments put forward by Habermas and others that the industrialised and commercialised media has effectively eliminated the public sphere. As John Street puts it; the citizen of the public sphere has been replaced by the consumer of the private sphere. This new order does not serve discourse, instead it aims to link audiences and advertisers. ( John Street. Mass Media, Politics and Democracy, pg 42) Google has a massive market and earns a lot of money through advertising therefore it is safe to assume that the motives behind this application were economic rather than public-service. For instance one would not expect to find many articles that could be potentially damaging to Google or its investors on the main page. That is not to say that the application is completely biased and obsessed with making money. Rather it means that by promoting certain articles as popular or more news-worthy it has not created a virtual unbiased public sphere, just a large online newspaper.
This is another example of the arguments put forward by Habermas and others that the industrialised and commercialised media has effectively eliminated the public sphere. As John Street puts it; the citizen of the public sphere has been replaced by the consumer of the private sphere. This new order does not serve discourse, instead it aims to link audiences and advertisers. ( John Street. Mass Media, Politics and Democracy, pg 42) Google has a massive market and earns a lot of money through advertising therefore it is safe to assume that the motives behind this application were economic rather than public-service. For instance one would not expect to find many articles that could be potentially damaging to Google or its investors on the main page. That is not to say that the application is completely biased and obsessed with making money. Rather it means that by promoting certain articles as popular or more news-worthy it has not created a virtual unbiased public sphere, just a large online newspaper.