• Corpus ID: 16711316

Understanding Weblogs : a communicative perspective

@inproceedings{Wijnia2004UnderstandingW,
  title={Understanding Weblogs : a communicative perspective},
  author={Elmine Wijnia},
  year={2004}
}

• Elmine Wijnia
• Published 2004
• Computer Science

This research investigates what form of communication is made possible through the weblog and what its uses are for the future. Taking Habermas’ theory, it will be investigated whether blogs offer a platform for what he calls the ‘ideal speech situation’. Conditions for the ideal speech situation are that everyone has equal access to the communication, that there are no power differences between the participants and that the participants act truthfully towards each other. To answer the question whether weblogs can satisfy these conditions, the framework of communication capacities of Van Dijk (1999) will be used and extended with two concepts. Based on these communication capacities it can be concluded that weblogs do offer a platform for the ideal speech situation. Future use of weblogs lie in the three formal world perspectives Habermas distinguishes: self-expression (subjective), sharing knowledge (objective) and social criticism (inter-subjective). From these three domains networks will emerge from people with shared interests, who will reinforce social interaction by using the weblog as a communication hub, a fixed marker on the internet where multiple communication channels for dialogue will be offered. (N.B.: this paper is a summarized translation of my Masters Thesis for the University of Twente, The Netherlands, with the title: Een goed gesprek onder miljoenen ogen: het weblog als knooppunt voor on line interactie.)