Digital regionalism and rural empowerment in the public sphere

The experience of the last three decades reveals not only the significant exclusion of rural issues by the press, radio and television, but also its stereotypical portrayal. As a consequence, the public sphere does not perform its basic function in relation to rural communities, namely, it does not lead to their empowerment. On the other hand, social media offer a chance for real empowerment of the village and its communities. The aim of the article is therefore to analyze various types of regional initiatives in social media in terms of their potential to empower the village and its inhabitants in the public sphere. The hypothesis is digital regionalism constitutes a qualitative change in the functioning of the public sphere concerning rural issues.