Algorithmischer Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit: Wie die automatische Selektion im Social Web die politische Kommunikation verändert und welche Gefahren dies birgt

Abstract

Today, a majority of recipients from industrialized countries already prefers news content curated by algorithms. The first structural transformation of the public sphere, like diagnosed by Habermas, is now superseded or complemented by a logic of algorithms. Along goes the rise of information intermediaries (e.g. search engines, networking sites) towards the role of leading gatekeepers. Personalized algorithms in particular are suspected of leading towards increasing personal idiosyncrasies and, on the collective level of the political public sphere, towards biases, fragmentation and polarization. This review of the literature, firstly, aims at depicting the central mechanisms of the new transformation. Secondly, based on extant empirical findings, we will scrutinize the predominant apprehensions concerning dangers originating from the algorithmic transformation of the public sphere. The current state of research concerning all dangers proves to be scarce and inconsistent. Anyhow, proofs of polarizing processes exist, though, seemingly depending on intervening variables.