Digital Public Spheres as Ambivalent Deliberative Spaces: Socio-technological Affordances on Reddit

The Internet irrevocably changed global communication, building networks among global publics and providing them with a platform for their views and exposure to others. Social media platforms may serve as modern public spheres, offering spaces for publics to engage in rational and critical discourse. The affordances of social media platforms are crucial in providing such opportunities for dialogue and exchange. In the broader context of mediatization, we examine how platform socio-technological affordances, such as anonymity, reward systems, and moderation guidelines, coupled with user practices, co-shape the way information is produced, framed, and consumed within online communities. This study employs digital ethnography as a method to observe selected subreddits and interviews with their users, focusing on their experiences and perceptions of these digital spaces. Our preliminary findings indicate that, alongside external influences, inherent tensions between social and technological mechanisms simultaneously hinder and contribute to the nature of online deliberation, highlighting fundamental ambivalence as a structural element of online deliberative spaces. Ethical implications of socio-technological affordances are also briefly discussed.