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According to Carl J. Couch, the history of human society is one of
successive, sometimes overlapping, information technologies used to
process the various symbolic representations that inform social
contexts. Unlike earlier "media" theorists who ignored social
context in order to concentrate on the information technologies
themselves, Couch implements a consistent theory of interpersonal
and intergroup relations to describe the essential interface
between information technologies and the social contexts in which
they are used. Couch emphasizes the formative capacities of
information technologies across historical epochs and cultures, and
places them within the major institutional relations of various
societies. He views social orders as reflexively shaped by the
information technologies that participants use, and as susceptible
to mass brutality and oppression due to oligarchic control though
he hopes technology will remain humane. The original edition of
this manuscript was nearly complete at the time of Couch's death
and was brought to completion by two of his closest associates. Now
after two decades, during which its impact is indisputable, it has
been updated for a new generation of students and scholars.
Additions include discussions on books in the digital age, social
media, mobile telephones, recordings, participatory culture, and
more.
According to Carl J. Couch, the history of human society is one of
successive, sometimes overlapping, information technologies used to
process the various symbolic representations that inform social
contexts. Unlike earlier "media" theorists who ignored social
context in order to concentrate on the information technologies
themselves, Couch implements a consistent theory of interpersonal
and intergroup relations to describe the essential interface
between information technologies and the social contexts in which
they are used. Couch emphasizes the formative capacities of
information technologies across historical epochs and cultures, and
places them within the major institutional relations of various
societies. He views social orders as reflexively shaped by the
information technologies that participants use, and as susceptible
to mass brutality and oppression due to oligarchic control though
he hopes technology will remain humane. The original edition of
this manuscript was nearly complete at the time of Couch's death
and was brought to completion by two of his closest associates. Now
after two decades, during which its impact is indisputable, it has
been updated for a new generation of students and scholars.
Additions include discussions on books in the digital age, social
media, mobile telephones, recordings, participatory culture, and
more.
The new social media build on and further complicate all of the
issues and processes of symbolic interaction. This volume builds on
and expands the existing symbolic interactionist perspective to
include the study of social interaction made possible by the use of
new social media. This special issue demonstrates the interface
between willful social interaction and structured technological
features - how social media are defined by social interactions, as
well as how social interactions are dictated by the use of social
media.
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