Do we have a European Online Public Sphere?

Mathew Lowry, GOPA-Cartermill

@mathewlowry

mathew.blogactiv.eu

We do have an EU Public Sphere

The Brussels Bubble

(#bxlsbbl)

If …

• you know – what EUR-LEX is

– how to navigate EUROPA

• you’ve already forgotten – what ‘subsidiarity’ means

– what the EESC is

– how many Presidents there are

• … then you’re in the Brussels Bubble– Communities no longer bounded geographically

So what’s a Bubble?

• “a community of people who share a common interest or passion”

• Professional and/orPersonal interest

• Commonly:– Knowledge, Jargon– Personal networks– Groupthink?

Community of Interest

Science

Butterflycollecting

Antiques

Hi Fi

“Everyone’s Interested in Something”

EU Affairs

Putting things in perspective

#bxlsbbl!

The EU online public sphere emerges …

EurogeeksThe Brussels

BubbleBloggers

Facebook to the rescue!

Social media will– reconnect the EU to its citizens– revitalise democracy– solve the energy crisis – bring world peace– repair your fridge

Don’t vote for it, LikeTM it! Like a EuroCrat today!

BloggingPortal.eu: mapping the EU Online Public Sphere

• 950+ blogs• EU-oriented posts

– Categorised– Rated– Disseminated onwards

• Volunteer

… and grows somewhat

EurogeeksThe Brussels

BubbleBloggers

Social platformdenizens

A subset of the Brussels Bubble

• Community of Interest

• EuroGeeks– Speciality: EU Affairs– Social media

• Smaller than the Brussels Bubble

• Talking to themselves

Bridges in the Blogosphere

EU Online Public Sphere

• Infrastructure: carries the conversation• Media landscape:

– Sustainable & Independent

• Not created by decree• Ecology: emerges when conditions right

– participants get something out of it– in return for putting something into it

• Faces vicious cycle (chicken & egg) problem

Many ways to build bridges

Outreach: Europe Joining specialist conversations

National conversation on a specialist topic

Everyone’s interested in something

Europe Curating & Convening cross-EU conversations

National conversation on a specialist topic

Everyone’s interested in something

Networks Help

• Building bridges on existing relationships easier– access national-level communities of interest– bring EU expertise

• So is the EESC well placed to – Convene, Stimulate & Facilitate– Cross-EU conversations on EU policies?

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME

mathew.blogactiv.eu

@mathewlowry

mlowry@gopa-cartermill.com