The Corruption of the Lifeworld: Habermas in the time of X

• In Event: 20220 - Section on Communication, Information Technology, and Media Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Section on Communication, Information Technology, and Media Sociology Roundtable IX: Social Media I

Abstract

The rise of social media has been the defining communications revolution of the 21st century. The popularity of Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and X (the former Twitter) promised a democratization of information on a scale that surpassed previous advancements in communication. However, the gradual politicization of social media and infusion of "deepfake" technology coupled with a decline in public trust in so-called legacy media has resulted in platforms that are untrustworthy at best and impossible to use at worst. In this paper, we examine the rise and fall of social media from a Habermasian perspective, specifically drawing on the concept of the colonization of the lifeworld (Habermas 1981). Because of how deeply social media has betrayed its potential as a unifying, democratizing force, we argue it is necessary to consider the corruption of the lifeworld as a step beyond its colonization, and whether Habermas's idea that utopia can be achieved through thought alone is possible without the purification and recreation of the lifeworld as currently constructed.

Authors

• Andrew Wilczak, Wilkes University

• Emily Roberts, Wilkes University

• Alyssa Donnini, Wilkes University