ABSTRACT
The expanded communicative marketplace enabled by networked communications encompasses a variety of forms of production. The changed marketplace for cultural goods is frequently cited as an example of the anti-hierarchical potential of networked communications. Networked communications technologies thus offer increased communicative agency for individuals within the realm of cultural goods production. Specific to politics, communicative agency within the networked public sphere manifests itself as public communication the dissemination and discussion of information and arguments regarding issues of collective concern. Networked communications, by contrast, provide a greater fluidity of subject positions within the production-distribution-consumption cycle of information and cultural goods. Networked communications, however, have altered the general public's capacity for communicative activity, as well as the matrix of relationships and processes in which the general public exists. Various mechanisms and measures exist for tracking the volume of specific activities within the networked public, such as inbound traffic to websites, the frequency of specific search engine terms, or hashtag usage in Twitter posts.
