The transformation towards a functional differentiation of society and the current emergence of social media have increased the importance of reputation, because persons have become comparable and contingently addressable throughout society. We examine both social media and China’s emerging “social credit system” to determine whether and to what extent these developments point to the development of a symbolically generalized communication medium of reputation, respectively, to a social change from functional to individual differentiation.
Aus systemtheoretischer Perspektive wird die Form adresslistenbasierter Kommunikation, wie sie das Internet ermöglicht – oft unter «soziale Medien» bzw. «soziale Netzwerke» kategorisiert –, untersucht. Kommunikation also etwa in Singlebörsen, sozialen Medien wie Facebook, Netzwerken beruflicher Ausrichtung, Reisekontaktbörsen, usw. Es wird gezeigt, wie Adresslisten als Medien eine technisch unterstützte Möglichkeit darstellen, das Problem doppelter Kontingenz, im Sinne von Initiative und Stabilisierung von Interaktionssystemen, zu bewältigen. Am Fallbeispiel der Anbahnung von (romantischer) Liebe, also in Bezug auf Singlebörsen, werden die Vorteile (Hoffnungen), wie auch die Nachteile (Enttäuschungen) von Adresslistenkommunikation erörtert. So wird nachgewiesen, dass hier zwar einerseits das Problem der Initiative bewältigt werden kann, aber Adresslistenkommunikation anderseits Probleme für die Kontinuität bzw. Stabilität von Interaktionssystemen innerhalb des symbolisch generalisierten Kommunikationsmediums Liebe induziert. Nicht zuletzt wird gezeigt, dass durch Adresslisten reputationsorientierte Kommunikation an Bedeutung gewinnt.From a system-theory perspective, the form of address list based communication, as made possible by the Internet – often categorized under “social media” or “social networks” – is analyzed. Examples of address-list based communication are online dating services, online social networking sites such as Facebook, networking sites for the business community, travel networking sites, etc. The paper theorizes how address-lists as media represent a technologically supported possibility to cope with the problem of double contingency in terms of initiative and stabilization of interaction systems. The paper addresses, as a case example, the advantages (hopefulness) and the disadvantages (disappointments) of address-list based communication in the initiation of love or romantic relationships. Thus, it shows that the problem of initiative can be overcome, but address list communication creates problems for the continuity or stability of interaction systems within love as a symbolically generalized medium of communication. Last, but not least, it shows that address lists increase the importance of reputation-oriented communication.
Purpose Given the form of functional differentiation of modern society, a far-reaching coordination of functional systems as a dissolution of their heterarchical relationship to each other, as was apparently possible in the social “lockdown” during the corona pandemic, should have been extremely unlikely. The purpose of this study is to explain how this was nevertheless achieved. Design/methodology/approach From the perspective of systems theory, social action in principle does not present itself as a problem but as a solution to (latent) social problems. In the sociological analysis presented here, it is therefore precisely a matter of uncovering or pointing out those (changed) social structures in which a social “lockdown” appears as a solution. Findings The paper explains that with the emergence of social media through applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, a new force is establishing itself at the level of society as a system. It is one that is characterized by being highly vulnerable to moral communication. A susceptibility to morality manifests, on the one hand, through an individual differentiation of society made possible by social media – for example, in the emerging Chinese social credit system – and, on the other hand, through the specific communicative structures of the social media themselves. It is argued that social media, in the form of a moral authority with a lasting effect on society as a whole, make a significant contribution to realizing the social “lockdown.” Originality/value The originality of the paper results from the fact that the emergence of a new social phenomenon (“lockdown”) is explained.
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