The Fifth Estate Emerging through the Network of Networks

Abstract

The rise of the press, radio, television and other mass media enabled the development of an independent institution: the 'Fourth Estate', central to pluralist democratic processes. The growing use of the Internet and related digital technologies is creating a space for networking individuals in ways that enable a new source of accountability in government, politics and other sectors. This paper explains how this emerging 'Fifth Estate' is being established and why this could challenge the influence of other more established bases of institutional authority. It discusses approaches to the governance of this new social and political phenomenon that could nurture the Fifth Estate's potential for supporting the vitality of liberal democratic societies.network society, information and communication technologies, democratic institutions, political studies, media studies, fourth estate,

Trust and information privacy concerns in electronic government

“…The assertion can bank on the supposition that more knowledge of and experience with the Internet could spur greater confidence in using the Internet, which would inflate online trust (Bart et al, 2005). This is consonance with the view of the Internet as an 'experience technology', which implies that as experience online continues to build the likelihood for users to develop learned trust in the Internet would expectedly increase (Dutton, 2010). These arguments serve as a springboard for the second hypothesis.…”

The Internet as a problematic field of study in social sciences

“…[Колозариди, 2015]. К началу XXI в. особыми свойствами трансформировать привычный соци альный мир оказывается наделен не только сам интернет (будучи, по выражению Уильяма Даттона, «пятой властью»), но и его изучение [Dutton, 2009].…”

Social Theory after the Internet

“…Another example is if data analytics for online audiences push journalists to be led by what audiences want rather than representing the interests of society beyond these audiences. Losing autonomy thus entails de-differentiationthough the process can be even more complex, as when there is further differentiation: digital media can also act as watchdogs on those new media that bypass traditional gatekeepers; new watchdogs then play a role as a 'fifth estate' (Dutton 2009;Graves 2016).…”