Speaking Power to Truth: Digital Discourse and the Public Intellectual edited by Michael Keren and Richard Hawkins provides an analysis of the world of online discourse as it relates to public intellectuals. However, the findings in this book are also important for the average social media user to understand how their own online discourse is shaping public life.
Here are a few quick takeaways from the book:
- Comment threads often dominated by mobs resorting to personal attacks are now being moderated on many major news outlets. Michael Keren analyzes the effect of this new forum for public discourse, paying close attention to its impact on democracy.
- Boaz Miller debates whether Margaret Atwood and David Suzuki are using their positions as public intellectuals on climate change to the benefit of the movement.
- Jacob Foster tells us that “It is easier for the average person to produce and share information than ever before.” This new opportunity for sharing information is the foundation for a collective intelligence in the public sphere rather than the dominance of one elite intellectual.
- Liz Pirnie investigates the hacktivist group called “Anonymous” and how they create a virtual community that act primarily as political disruptors.
- Karim-Ally Kassam argues that “Tenure is like a passport that affords protection by establishing one’s citizenship in a community of inquirers” and is surprisingly important to establishing oneself as a public intellectual.
More about the book here.
