Understanding Each Other Online. A Hermeneutic Approach to Online Communication

• In Event: Democracy, Freedom, and Pluralism in the Digital Age

Abstract

This paper explores how hermeneutic theory can help us better understand the dynamics of citizen communication online, how it may differ from previous modes of civic communication, and what aspects of that difference may be especially problematic for democratic life. With the astounding success and increasing influence of online conspiracy communities like QAnon, the direct effects of social media on political life in Western democracies have become undeniable. Likewise, the increasing polarization of the electorate and the splintering of the political debate into echo chambers by now are well established. While these phenomena have been well documented, the exact dynamics that render online communication so fraught with danger for democratic debate—and, increasingly, for the perceived legitimacy of democratic processes and institutions more generally—remain still unclear. This investigation is also important in order to inform possible reform of the design and architecture of online communication spaces which may alleviate the problematic tendencies towards radicalization, sectarianism, populism, and mutual vitriol. My paper seeks to contribute to this investigation by turning to hermeneutic theory in order to better understand preconditions for mutually successful interpretation online. Through the lens of theorizations of the speech act and the conditions for mutual understanding by Habermas, Gadamer and Schleiermacher, the paper reconstructs fundamental structures of discourse online. I then discuss how crucial conditions for successful reciprocal interpretation may not be met or met in novel ways which change the nature of the interaction, contributing to the above-mentioned phenomena in online communication spaces. In the final part of the paper, I turn to some recent proposals of changing the architecture of these spaces and analyze in which way these address the structural problems revealed so far in much of online communication.

Author

• Luise Papcke, New York University