Axel Bruns
- 7 Apr. 2026 – ComAI Lecture, Zentrum für Medien-, Kommunikations- und Informationsforschung, Bremen
- 21 Apr. 2026 – Guest lecture, University of Münster
Presentation Slides
Abstract
‘The’ public sphere is now irretrievably fractured into a multiplicity of online and offline, larger and smaller, more or less public spaces that frequently (and often serendipitously) overlap and intersect with one another, and that are increasingly shaped by algorithmic interventions. This diverse array of what have been described variously as public spheres, public spherules, platform publics, issue publics, or personal publics nonetheless serves many of the same functions that were postulated for the public sphere itself. However, while the communicative structures, functions, and dynamics of many such spaces have been studied in isolation, we still lack a more comprehensive model that connects such case studies in pursuit of an overarching perspective. This talk identifies the crucial building blocks that help us conceptualise and investigate how the network of such spaces is structured, and in turn structures our everyday experience of public communication.
