Editorial

Volume 4, Issue 2

Authors

Martin Emmer Weizenbaum Institute https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0722-132X
Clara Iglesias Keller Weizenbaum Institute https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6454-2616
Hanna Krasnova Weizenbaum Institute https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8812-5953
Martin Krzywdzinski Weizenbaum Institute https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3927-6616
Axel Metzger Humboldt University of Berlin
Sonja Schimmler Weizenbaum Institute https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8786-7250
Lena Ulbricht University of Hildesheim https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6259-0144
Gergana Vladova Humboldt University of Berlin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4086-1724

In this second issue of the fourth volume of the Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society, we bring together contributions that deal with the transformation of the public sphere in times of digitalization from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Pu Yan and Ralph Schröder examine the use of hyperpartisan media such as Breitbart. They show connections between populist parties and hyperpartisan media user groups and discuss differences between the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

Paddy Leerssen takes up discussions on the regulation of social media and, following the seminal work of Jeanette Hofmann and Bernd Reger, argues that regulation should be oriented less towards algorithmic transparency and more towards “platform observability.” Creating transparency via algorithms is incredibly complicated and almost impossible to achieve. In contrast, the concept of observability could offer a pragmatic alternative: the aim of regulation must be to be able to observe the actors and mechanisms involved in knowledge production on platforms. Leerssen shows how this principle can be applied to the EU’s Digital Services Act.

Damian Trilling presents the concept of “feedback loops” to advance discussions about filter bubbles and echo chambers in communication science and political science. Feedback loops connect different areas, such as the use of social media, social relationships, and forms of political engagement. They can either amplify or dampen the effects of certain information.

Sercan Kiyak, Stefan Mertens, David De Coninck, and Leen d’Haenens examine political communication on X (formerly Twitter) during the wars in Syria and Ukraine. The focus is on German-language discussions of the associated refugee flows. The authors see a decoupling and polarization of the debates between the anti- and pro-refugee communities. While the pro-refugee community was much larger in both cases, communication was significantly more intensive and dynamic in the anti-refugee community. At the same time, this communication was strongly decoupled from the news media.

We wish you an inspiring reading.