Virtual public sphere: deficit of deliberation

The article presents a socio-philosophical analysis of the dialectic of the modern public sphere, which is influenced by the contradictory sociopolitical and sociocultural realities of the digitalization process. The relevance of the study stems from the need to comprehend the changing nature of the public sphere in the context of the digitalization of social communication. The subject of the study is public discourse as a mechanism of civic communication in the development of virtual public reality. The aim of the article is to characterize the dynamics of civil discourse in the transformation of the public sphere due to the emergence of forms of virtual communication and to identify the challenges it has faced in the process of development in the XXI century. Scientific novelty is determined by the conceptualization of public civil discourse in the new social context of the public sphere, the justification of the changing modes of public communication in the new historical reality. There is an analysis of common problems of modern public sphere related to the development of virtual environment in the digital age, as well as the views of domestic and foreign authors on the phenomenon under consideration. A set of key factors has been identified, the impact of which on the specifics of the public sphere poses a threat to its further development.