Which Alternative? A Critical Analysis of YouTube-Comments in Anti-Fascist Protest

This article examines the critical potential of YouTube-comments to foster the development of counter public (Negt and Kluge 1972). The argument is based on an analysis of YouTube-comments in anti-fascist protests taking place in East Germany in 2011. The comments represent political positions across the political spectrum and are analyzed as: [1] form of the comments; [2] different political positions as friend-enemy constellations; [3] the struggle for attention in the mass media; [4] the critical potential of the different alternatives represented in the comments. The article concludes with a discussion of the emancipative potential of social web platforms such as YouTube to support the struggle from below and to give voice to oppressed political positions.