Theorizing New Media: Reflexivity, Knowledge, and the Web 2.0

Abstract

A recent wave of popular and scholarly discourse has hailed the arrival of the Web 2.0, marking a new generation of Internet users who share and collaborate on popular social networking sites such as MySpace and user‐generated communities such as YouTube and Wikipedia. Social and cultural critics have attempted to take stock of the implications of these various technological changes with specific emphasis on the state of knowledge in contemporary society. This article aims to theoretically examine knowledge in the context of new media technologies with particular attention paid to the notion of “reflexivity.” Focusing on the work of Scott Lash, whose theory of reflexivity radically differs from various other interpretations, I suggest that knowledge, in its modern formulation—as reasoned, stable, and linear—must be rethought for the information age, critiquing some of the predominant scholarly and popular media criticisms that suggests media to be mere enhancements of human forms of communication, knowledge, and sense‐making. I conclude by considering some of the ontological dimensions of the transformations in the dynamics of knowledge in new media technologies.

Facebook, Social Networking, And Business Education

“…Han (2010) summarizes the influence of Web 2.0 on theories of knowledge and argues that knowledge as traditionally conceived (as reasoned, stable, and linear) must be rethought in the information age. Han asserts that traditional theories of knowledge fail to provide the proper critical social analytics for theorizing new media because they do not recognize emerging conceptualizations of the circulation, production, and functionality of knowledge.…”

Social CRM Analytics Challenges

“…Within the period of Web 1.0, the Internet was understood as a means of unidirectional communication information. The content and the applications could only be created and published by individuals with technical and specific knowledge of software (Han, 2010). In contrast, Web 2.0 is described as the new generation of Internet users (Choudhury and Harrigan, 2014) and is characterized by the expansion of economic, social and technological trends that allow a new form of communication -the multidirectional one.…”

Sosyal Medya Oyunlarinda Gerçekli̇k Olgusunun Yön Deği̇şti̇rmesi̇: Smeet Oyunu Örneği̇

“…Sosyal medya iletişimi sanal bir evrene taşıyarak sanal sosyal bir kültürün oluşmasına meydan vermiştir. Sosyal değişim kuramına göre, gerçek sosyal hayat aktiviteleri yerini köklü biçimde farklı teknolojilere dayanan yeni kurum ve sosyal yapılara bırakmaktadır (Han, 2010).…”