This interdisciplinary research project examines the ways in which the Internet complicates notions of the public sphere. It starts with a hypothesis that networked publics, as social communities, are created by similar social practices as communities in physical space. As such, networked publics are neither a pure representation, nor a simulation, but a social expression existing within an environmental spectrum. The dissertation draws on the urban planner, Melvin Webber's notion of a non-place urban realm, which conceptualizes a spectrum of communication space, with varying degrees of proximity, mediation and publicness.

The research first examines the necessary conditions for publics in general, and second, outlines a theoretical framework for understanding network publics in particular, including recent counterpublic activities. Third, the empirical research provides qualitative data including open-ended questionnaires and interviews. Fourth, problems of mediation on close long-term relationships and communities are also discussed.

The analysis describes how social clusters tend to emerge from previous proximal relations, as well as from non-proximal special-interest groups, which may or may not find expression in physical space. Either way, whether proximal or special-interest based, both clusters describe a commonly shared condition or community. As a socio-technical system, the Internet enables the formation of social bonds, however, it is user interaction that builds community through the movement of messages and information, thereby creating a social space. Because of this shared aspect of social production, networked publics cannot be understood as something separate from everyday physical publics. Online publics are mutually constituted as an embedded feature of everyday social practices.