Understanding Civic Engagement in the Smartphone Era: Corporate Sphere vs. Public Sphere

Abstract

This paper analyzes the interplay between the government, civil groups, telecommunications corporations, and users in order to determine power negotiation among these major players, in particular between a corporate sphere and a public sphere in the process of the establishment of the Terminal Distribution Structure Improvement Act. It investigates whether Korean smartphone users have staged a collective, nationwide civic engagement against the Terminal Act or not. It discusses whether citizens equipped with the smartphone and relevant digital platforms (e.g., Twitter and KaKao Talk) are able to take part in civic movements, and its implications in conjunction with the corporate sphere. Civic movement organizations had been striving to protect the customers from powerful capital and the government; however, civic engagement has not been substantial. Our findings for mobile communication for gathering and discussing the Terminal Act proved that civic movements did not entail active participation in public engagement. Increasing corporate sphere has played a key role in curbing civic engagement.