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Twitter and the personalization of politics

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Abstract

Social networking produces a paradox for political participation: the increased opportunities of direct communication and public participation simultaneously decrease the (symbolic) space necessary for political discussions. The ‘participant’ in social media seems particularly connected to and touched by such institutional influences as political debates and decision-making processes, but this increase in direct participation tends to privilege a politics of immediate gratification that annuls (traditional) representation.

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Notes

  1. This subdivision of (unconscious) language reminds us of Badiou's analysis of the four domains in which the formation of a subject of truth is possible: science, art, love and politics (Badiou, 2000, p. 53). This similarity ought not surprise us as Badiou acknowledges Lacan as his primary influence.

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  1. Biezenstraat 7, Nijmegen, 6541ZN, The Netherlands

    André Nusselder

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  1. André Nusselder
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Nusselder, A. Twitter and the personalization of politics. Psychoanal Cult Soc 18, 91–100 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/pcs.2012.45

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