The Fundamental Error: Harmful Community Building Through Othering Practices on the Facebook Page of the most Popular German Newspaper
Chapter
Author(s) / editor(s):
Luisa Conti
Year: 2025
In: Fergal Lenehan, Roman Lietz (eds.) Reimagining Digital Cosmopolitanism Perspectives from a Postmigrant and Postdigital World. Bielefeld: transcript. p. 337-364.
Language(s): EnglishAbstract:
This chapter addresses growing concerns surrounding polarization, misinformation,
and the erosion of social cohesion in many societies by examining dynamics within digital
spaces that reinforce anti-cosmopolitan attitudes, thereby endangering social peace. Utilizing
a multimodal approach that combines netnography with experiential hermeneutics, the
study explores the Facebook page of the German newspaper Bild, focusing on news posts that
may stimulate discussions revealing (anti)cosmopolitan sentiments. The analysis reveals a
convivial atmosphere characterizing this space, where othering practices foster easy consensus
and act as a form of social glue, facilitating community building, a sense of belonging, and the
internalization of anti-cosmopolitan sentiments and culture. The oversimplification present
in the posts and their comments, often intersecting with scapegoating and essentialist reason-
ing, prevents individuals from grasping the complexity of social dynamics, while deepening
instead their engagement with neo-tribal nationalist narratives. This distorted imaginary is
identified as a fundamental error, as it creates a scenario in which the “imagined community”
is perceived as endangered, undermining the foundations of society by legitimizing a disregard
for the constitutional principles of pluralistic democracy. The paper concludes by calling for
more research on strategies that promote digital cosmopolitanism in communities echoing
neo-tribal nationalism.
https://www.transcript-verlag.de/media/pdf/8c/c1/7a/oa97838394753244NLqu8GTYxZvH.pdf
Post created by: Lymor Wolf Goldstein