The moral positioning of education policy publics: how social media is used to wedge an issue

ABSTRACT Social media has become a core feature in policy development and enactment. This article extends current features of digital policy sociology to include the entanglement of education policy development processes with new media, paying particular attention to how two conservative think tanks in Australia have strategically used social media in their lobbying practices. By concentrating on policy publics, we show how The Centre for Independent Studies and the Institute of Public Affairs have used social media as a part of education politics. Using Luhmann’s theory of moral communication as a framework, we work towards accounting for the contemporary hyperactivity of education policy and politics and speculate how these Australian case studies might inform the critical policy sociology of education.