Tokbek [Talk-back], Israeli Speech Economy, and Other Non-deliberative Terms for Political Talk

These three quotes are taken from news articles that leading Israeli commenters and scholars have written regarding the Israeli online commenting arena. For Shelakh, currently a Parliament Member of the progressive “Yesh Atid” party, online commenting is the metaphoric city square, where people gathered to discuss and debate public issues. For Alper, a renowned author, the commenting arena, he calls tokbek, is a potential arena for public discussion. For Kimerling, one of the leading Israeli sociologists of the 20th century, the tokbek presents a potential of

democratic process and freedom of speech. These commentators framed the Israeli online commenting arena, the tokbek, within the larger discussions of civic engagement, public deliberation, and democratic life. This framing is shared by both practitioners of this arena and outsiders observing this communication process. Therefore, this chapter uses this communication arena and the term for talk that captures it, the tokbek, within its larger speech economy, in light of discussions of public deliberation and civic engagement.