Digital Enclaves:
A Case Study of The Root
Roderick Graham, Rhode Island College
Context of Study
• A part of a larger work that develops an approach
to studying sociological processes in the digital
environment
• Discusses new “Digital Practices” in the “Digital
Environment”
• Uses the African American experience as an
illustration
Theoretical Background
Two Views of Political Discourse in the
Physical Environment
Bourgeois Public Sphere
Subaltern Counterpublics
Jürgen Habermas (1962)
Nancy Fraser (1990), Michael Dawson
(1995, 2001)
Bourgeois = Property Owners,
middle class
Subordinated Groups
Liberalism
Group Concerns
Hegemonic
Counterhegemonic
Theoretical Background
From Physical Environment to the Digital
Environment
Physical Environment
Digital Environment
Bourgeois Public Sphere
Networked Individualism
vs.
vs.
Subaltern Counter Public
Segmentation and Polarization
Theoretical Background
Two Views of Political Discourse in the
Digital Environment
Networked Individualism
Segmentation and Polarization
Yochai Benkler (2006)
Cass Sunstein (2007)
Information from Non-Market
Actors
“The Daily Me” produced by
dominant Internet entities
Clusters of nested, moderately read
sites
Echo Chambers
Viable Option to Concentrated
Mass Media
Strong understanding of group
concerns
Theoretical Background
• Cultural precedent for
building counterpublics
online
• In physical environment,
faced punishment for
developing black
rhetorics and public
agendas
• Developed “hidden
transcripts” (Scott 1990)
Theoretical Background
Hush
Harbors
Juke Joints and
Barbershops
Digital
Enclaves
Theoretical Background
• Digital Enclaves
perform the same
function as subaltern
counterpublics in the
PE
• They are, by design,
places of segmentation
and polarization
Case Study of The Root
• Purpose of study is to
explore a probable
“digital enclave”
• The Root is one possible
enclave
• African American
newsmagazine
• Alexa.com Stats
o Rank of 3298
o Skews African American and
Caucasian; users above 35
Case Study of The Root
Research Questions:
1. Does The Root occupy a
separate space in the
digital environment?
[Network Analysis]
2. What are some of the
ways in which the users
of The Root discuss
societal issues? [Content
Analysis]
Case Study of The Root
Network Analysis
• URL Citations
o Ex. www.theroot.com
• Inlinks show popularity
• Outlinks show
connections
• Explore structural
distance from public
sphere
Content Analysis
• Discussion board of
politics section
• Explore content of
articles and user
comments
• Explore degree of
segmentation/polarizat
ion
Network Analysis
Sample and Method
• Sample of 40 top websites plus The Root (41 total)
• Web traffic data as measured by Alexa
• 20 African American websites ;10 news sites; 10
opinion sites
• URL citations are collected and analyzed using the
software Webometric Analyst
(http://lexiurl.wlv.ac.uk/index.html )
Network Analysis
Sample and Method
• A total of 87, 629 URL Citations (links)
• Two algorithms derive conclusions from raw data
1. Newman's Community Algorithm (2006) – Shows
which websites cluster together
2. Fruchterman-Rheingold Algorithm – Helps construct
the layout of a network diagram
Red = AA Digital Enclave
Blue = Mainstream/AA
Yellow = Mainstream
Green = Opinion
Network Analysis
Key Insights
• 4 clusters formed – one cluster can be considered a
digital enclave
• The Root is a part of the enclave cluster
• Digital enclave cluster is composed of only African
American sites, and is positioned towards the
periphery of the diagram
• Note: African American itself site is not the deciding
factor – several African American sites are in the
core and are a part of other communities
Content Analysis
• One month of articles: January 1st 2013 to January
31st , 2013; 25 articles total
• Discussion boards for each article
• Prominent news items of the month:
o
o
o
o
o
Obama’s inauguration speech
Gun policy in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut shootings
The 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade
The birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr..
The Root ran a special series on education
Content Analysis
Key Findings
1. Counterhegemonic Interpretations of Societal
Events
o
One of the primary functions of counterpublics
2. Emphasizing History
o
Uniquely African American?
3. America’s Conscious
o
Uniquely African American?
Content Analysis
Counterhegemonic Interpretations
“The problem with the Acting White Theory is that it
promotes the misconception that black students
underachieve because of their corrupted attitudes.
Meanwhile, many black students are relegated to underresourced schools, and they lack motivation because of
low expectations from teachers and school leaders, unfair
discipline and fewer opportunities for academic
enrichment.” – Ivory Toldson*
*“The Acting White Theory Doesn’t Add Up” http://www.theroot.com/views/acting-white-theory-doesnt-add
Content Analysis
Emphasizing History
“Now, 150 years later, as we commemorate the
sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, I can't
help thinking of Annie and all our ancestors. I reflect on
how they agitated for their own freedom through protest,
revolt, escape, prayer and petition. I am reminded that this
observance is about not only the stroke of Lincoln's pen but
also the vision of Harriet Tubman, the appeal of abolitionist
David Walker and the genius of Frederick Douglass…” A’Lelia Bundles*
*“Slave’s Letter Reveals Pace of Freedom” http://www.theroot.com/views/slaves-letter-reveals-pace-freedom
Content Analysis
Emphasizing History
“I mean, I know that racism is a problem, just like theft is a
problem, but we have more recourses to recover from any
ill effect of racism than we do against the common thief.
So why is that such a big spot on the black agenda, rather
than actually bringing up all of our people to a level that
our ancestors would be proud of?” – Logical Leopard*
*“Are We Black No More – Not Quite” http://www.theroot.com/views/are-we-black-no-more-not-quite
Content Analysis
America’s Conscious
“Until the problems of black America--to the degree
that they exist--are seen as America's problems, and
not just a black problem, and black children are seen
as America's children, and a black future is seen as
America's future, the problems that you find vexing will
continue and persist. In short, the problems of the
black community are not just a black problem, but a
national problem, and it will take the whole nation to
address those problems and repair what's broken.” –
Black Diaspora*
*http://www.theroot.com/views/are-we-black-no-more-not-quite
Conclusion
• The Root is an example of a subaltern counterpublic
space in the digital environment – a digital enclave
for the production of African American rhetoric
• Structurally, it is a part of a distinct community based on links - in the digital environment
• The Root is a space for the production and
circulation of uniquely African American rhetoric
Future Directions
• Network analysis is relatively small (although links
were plentiful)
• Different algorithms produce different results?
• Future studies may decide to look at a cluster of
sites and look for commonalities across sites
References
Benkler, Yochai. 2007. The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Dawson, Michael. 1995. “A Black Counterpublic?: Economic Earthquakes, Racial Agenda(s), and Black
Politics”, pp. 199 – 228 in The Black Public Sphere: A Public Culture Book, edited by The Black Public Sphere
Collective. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Dawson, Michael. 2001. Black Visions: The Roots of Contemporary African-American Political Ideologies.
Chicago, Il: The University of Chicago Press.
Fraser, Nancy. 1990. “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing
Democracy,” Social Text 25/26: 56 – 90.
Fruchterman, Thomas M. and Edward Reingold. 1991. “Graph Drawing by Force-Directed Placement”,
Software – Practice and Experience 21(11):1129–1164.
Habermas, J. (1989 [1962]) The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of
Bourgeois Society. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Newman, Mark. E. J. 2006. “Modularity and Community Structure in Networks”, Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103(23): 8577 – 8582.
Scott, James C. 1990. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press.
Sunstein, Cass. 2001. Republic.com. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.