Counter-Public and Autonomist-Marxist working together

While I do think that continuous digital advancements distract some people and pull them away from physical relationships, I also agree with Dahlberg in that digital networked platforms has given a voice to people who could never have one. There may be less physical involvement in communities but people are getting informed faster and putting time into online communities rather than physically. I think both the counter-public and autonomist-marxist positions work well with this idea. Counter-public is basically saying that the internet is a place where the people who are normally excluded from the main identity can go and share their opinions. People can also use the internet to protest, find and connect people with the same opinion easier, and get informed on current issues as well.
A good example of where internet is a place to go to protest and inform others would be thedaywefightback.org .


The website is an internet protest against NSA surveillance. The site has one main target, the FISA Improvements Act. This act attempted to legalize phone record data in bulk. The protest also supports the USA Freedom Act.








There is another website that's main goal is to give young people a voice on any social issue that they feel needs to be heard. The website is called do something.org and they call themselves the largest organization for teens and social cause. Teens and younger voices are not listened to very often because of their assumed lack of credibility and knowledge, so sites like these gives them a chance to participate in online activism and contestation.

Continuing with the counter-public idea, there are those who have opinions that are usually shoved aside and not listened to nearly as much as more popular voices and voices with more credibility and authority. In recent years, this side of the public has had the opportunity to turn to the internet in order to make their thoughts and ideas heard. I find the position of counter-publics one of the most convincing because if you take away the internet, the people have very limited ways of participating democratically. The internet gives us endless options for contributing ideas to the public and sharing similar opinions with others. We are able to freely communicate through endless websites and educate ourselves and others. This is where I think of the autonomist-marxist position because it talks about how digital communication enables direct participation in democratic issues. Information is freely shared and open to anyone, which is helpful to people who aren't heard when trying to speak verbally about their opinions. The government is not involved and people have the freedom to say what they need to say. Both the counter-public position and autonomist-marxist positions supports the arguments of Dahlberg. The internet has opened up numerous doors for people to get more involved in their communities without having to do so in a physical way. When people feel like they are more heard, they are more willing to participate in political affairs.