Digital media and public sphere: political conversation about migration on Cubadebate site

Abstract

This article explores political potentiality of online civic conversation for the constitution of alternative public spheres in Cuba. The analysis of the comments on migration in the Cubadebate site is articulated with a critical examination of the environment and the wider social context surrounding messages, in order to identifying how the interlocutors define common problems, how they explain moral premises supporting their opinions and how they establish an ethical relationship with otherness. It became clear that the appropriation of virtual spaces by Cubans for conversations about problems that affect them, even in mainstream media, contributes to the reconfiguration of their possibilities of autonomous action in the transformative scenario of the country.

Keywords

• comunicación digital
• Cuba
• autonomía
• espacios virtuales
• ciudadanía