Abstract:
As a developing country, Sri Lanka faces a different economic, social, political crisis. When the
citizens are suffering from different issues, there are different ways they use to express them to
the government. Therefore, media is the most powerful tool, plays a vital role in bridging the
communications between citizens and governments. Jurgan Habermas (1991) explains the
importance of having a public sphere in forming public opinion. Therefore, the research
identifies Facebook cartoon communities as an effective way of creating public opinion.
Facebook communities use both printed medias cartoons as well as web cartoons. Creative
cartoons draw pictures to enhance the awareness of important incidents to get the public's
attention. It has been believed that pictures speak louder than words. Therefore, regardless the
age, education, people get informed by cartoons. This research aimed to investigate how cartoons
transform messages to the public and how it affects public opinion. The qualitative research
methodology used in this research and the major data collecting tools were participant
observation and unstructured interviews. The research conducted as a web-based research and
therefore the primary data collected via Facebook Social Media’s Cartoon community. The data
were analyzed using thematic analysis. The research findings revealed that the cartoons' main
purpose was to send a message blended with sarcasm, allowing people to resonate with their
experiences and existing knowledge they have. Further, the results revealed that the Facebook
community allows people to communicate on different issues, share them on their Facebook
page and build conversations with their friends' circle and discuss further on that. Interestingly,
they tend to predict and forecast future political trends. Moreover, Facebook cartoon
communities act as a new public sphere, which opens new ventures for both members and nonmembers
to develop discussion on current issues. Ultimately this has led to create public opinion
in the society in different issues.
