A short presentation I was asked to make at the EU's economic and social committee in May 2012. It was a slidecast (PPT synched with audio recorded at the event) until Slideshare removed the audio ;(, . Original accompanying post here: http://mathew.blogactiv.eu/2012/05/09/introducing-the-brussels-bubble-to-some-of-its-denizens-rtfb-part-2/

1. Do we have a
European Online Public Sphere?
Mathew Lowry, GOPA-Cartermill
@mathewlowry
mathew.blogactiv.eu

2. We do have an
EU Public Sphere
The
Brussels Bubble
(#bxlsbbl)

3. If …
• you know
– what EUR-LEX is
– how to navigate EUROPA
• you’ve already forgotten
– what „subsidiarity‟ means
– what the EESC is
– how many Presidents there are
• … then you’re in the Brussels Bubble
– Communities no longer bounded geographically

4. So what‟s a Bubble?
• “a community of Community
people who share a of Interest
common interest or
passion” Antiques
Science
• Professional and/or
Personal interest Hi Fi
• Commonly: EU Affairs
– Knowledge, Jargon Butterfly
– Personal networks collecting
– Groupthink?
“Everyone‟s Interested in Something”

5. Putting things in perspective
#bxlsbbl!

6. The EU online public
sphere emerges …
The Eurogeeks
Brussels
Bubble
Bloggers

7. Facebook to the rescue!
Social media will
– reconnect the EU to its citizens
– revitalise democracy
– solve the energy crisis
– bring world peace
– repair your fridge
Don‟t vote for it, LikeTM it! Like a EuroCrat today!

8. BloggingPortal.eu: mapping the
EU Online Public Sphere
• 950+ blogs
• EU-oriented posts
– Categorised
– Rated
– Disseminated onwards
• Volunteer

9. … and grows somewhat
The Eurogeeks
Brussels
Bubble
Bloggers
Social platform
denizens

10. A subset of the
Brussels Bubble
• Community of Interest
• EuroGeeks
– Speciality: EU Affairs
– Social media
• Smaller than the Brussels Bubble
• Talking to themselves

11. Bridges in the Blogosphere

12. EU Online Public Sphere
• Infrastructure: carries the conversation
• Media landscape:
– Sustainable & Independent
• Not created by decree
• Ecology: emerges when conditions right
– participants get something out of it
– in return for putting something into it
• Faces vicious cycle (chicken & egg)
problem

13. Many ways to build bridges

14. Everyone‟s interested in something
Outreach: Europe Joining
specialist conversations
National conversation
on a specialist topic

15. Everyone‟s interested in something
Europe Curating & Convening
cross-EU conversations
National conversation
on a specialist topic

16. Networks Help
• Building bridges on existing relationships
easier
– access national-level communities of interest
– bring EU expertise
• So is the EESC well placed to
– Convene, Stimulate & Facilitate
– Cross-EU conversations on EU policies?

17. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME
mathew.blogactiv.eu
@mathewlowry
mlowry@gopa-cartermill.com