Types of Public Opinion

Artur Lipiński, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań, Poland
artur.lipinski@amu.edu.pl

On the basis of the meta-analysis of various definitions of public opinion, S. Herbst enlisted a number of types of public opinion: aggregate public opinion, majoritarian public opinion, discursive public opinion, reified public opinion. Aggregate public opinion can be understood as the sum of opinions expressed through polls, surveys, elections, referenda based on the assumption that the public is an atomised group of individuals holding opinions on a plethora of specific issues. Majoritarian public opinion are based on the aggregation of voices of the people who are able to express themselves, and their voice is widely heard in a society. The discursive public opinion assumes that the opinions are not stable, they evolve as a result of the publicly held discursive communication based on exchange of arguments. The reified public opinion refers to the public opinion as a fictional entity constructed by symbolic elites (political, media, academic, etc.), and it is used rhetorically to various political aims, including self-legitimation and de-legitimation of the opponents.

The most recent framework developed in ‘critical algorithm studies’ distinguished so called algorithmic public opinion, a concept which captures how social media algorithms contribute to shape public opinion both as a process and a product. As a process it is shaped by interactions between users and algorithmic systems. On the one hand social media platforms act as new type of gatekeepers through, for example, content prioritisation, removal, or labelling. On the other hand, various actors (users, groups, or organisations) attempt to affect content circulation and promote the visibility of their messages using legitimate (optimisation, algorithmic activism) or illegitimate techniques (trolling). As a product, algorithmic public opinion is the outcome of the interplay of technological mediation and user agency.

Keywords: aggregate public opinion, majoritarian public opinion, discursive public opinion, reified public opinion, algorithmic public opinion

Related Entries: Algorithmisation, Public Opinion, Social Media

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