{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T14:51:42Z","timestamp":1786719102692,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":79,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2007,10,1]],"date-time":"2007-10-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1191196800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2007,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Recently there has been some debate between deliberative democrats about whether the internet is leading to the fragmentation of communication into `like-minded' groups.This article is concerned with what is held in common by both sides of the debate: a public sphere model that aims for all-inclusive, consensus seeking rational deliberation that eliminates inter-group `polarizing' politics. It argues that this understanding of deliberative democracy fails to adequately consider the asymmetries of power through which deliberation and consensus are achieved, the inter-subjective basis of meaning, the centrality of respect for difference in democracy, and the democratic role of `like-minded' deliberative groups.The deliberative public sphere must be rethought to account more fully for these four aspects. The article draws on post-Marxist discourse theory and reconceptualizes the public sphere as a space constituted through discursive contestation.Taking this radicalized norm, it considers what research is needed to understand the democratic implications of the formation of `like-minded' groups online.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444807081228","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2007,10,16]],"date-time":"2007-10-16T10:18:58Z","timestamp":1192529938000},"page":"827-847","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":228,"title":["Rethinking the fragmentation of the cyberpublic: from consensus to contestation"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Lincoln","family":"Dahlberg","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Queensland, Australia,"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2007,10,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"atypb1","volume-title":"`Political Organization and Political Discussion on the Internet","author":"Balkin, J.M.","year":"2004"},{"key":"atypb2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Becker, B. and J. 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