Digitization: New trajectories of mediatization?

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

The purpose of this chapter is to clarify what the concept of digital media might add to the understanding of mediatization and what the concept of mediatization might add to the understanding of digital media. It is argued that digital media open an array of new trajectories in human communication, which were not anticipated in previous conceptualizations of media and mediatization. If digital media are to be included, the concept of mediatization has to be revised and new parameters must be integrated in the concept of media. At the same time, it is argued that the concept of mediatization still provides a variety of perspectives of relevance to the study of digital media. The claim that the concept of mediatization has to be reinterpreted can only be legitimized if digital media are considered distinct from the media formerly referred to in mediatization theory. Such characteristics are presented and digital media are defined in section 2, while section 1 is devoted to theories of mediatization and the notion of media. Section 3 analyses the relation between mediatization and digitization. Finally, in section 4, medium theory is revisited with a view to harvest some missing fruits in contemporary mediatization theory.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMediatization of Communication
Number of pages26
PublisherDe Gruyter
Publication date1 Jan 2014
Pages297-322
ISBN (Print)9783110271935
ISBN (Electronic)9783110272215
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2014

    Research areas

  • Digital materials and genres, Digitization and mediatization, Grammar of digital media, Institutionalization of media, Internet and mass media, Materializations of media, Media theories: Modern or general, Medium theory, Modes of mediatization, Notion of networked digital media

ID: 201389868