A Discursive Approach to Mediatisation: Corporate Technology Discourse and the Trope of Media Indispensability

Karin Fast

doi:10.17645/mac.v6i2.1311

Abstract

Hitherto, and mainly by way of ethnographic studies, mediatisation research has informed us regarding the relevance, influence, and role of media in various spheres of social life. Less is known, however, about how mediatisation is discursively constructed. The relevance of constructivist approaches to mediatisation has been explicated, e.g., by Krotz (2017), who calls for critical mediatisation studies that consider the economic interests of mediatisation stakeholders, including the ICT industry. Against this backdrop, this article scrutinizes what the alleged ‘mobility revolution’ entails according to some who would benefit most from such a revolution. More concretely, the article studies the discursive practices of three leading corporations in the mobile communications sector: IBM, Huawei, and Ericsson. Stimulated by critical mediatisation theory as well as related accounts of the (technology) discourse-reality relationship, the article asks: if mobile media changes ‘everything’ in life—whose lives are being changed? If mobile media are ‘indispensable’ to modern ways of living—what are they supposed to do? Ultimately, the article speaks to the theme of this thematic issue by interrogating how contemporary mobile technology discourse contributes to the (re-)production of social space. Findings suggest that mediatisation is constructed as the response to an internal human drive for connectivity and as an inexorable natural force. Three sub-discourses on mobile technology are identified: ‘technologies of cosmos’, ‘technologies of self’, and, ultimately, ‘technologies of life’. Altogether, these sub-discourses disclose and reinforce the hegemonic nature of mediatisation by communicating the indispensability of mobile media in modern—notably, urban and privileged—lives. In addition to providing answers to the study’s empirical questions, the article includes a discussion about the potential implications of existing discourse overlaps between ICT companies and mediatisation theorists, as well as a sketch for an agenda for the ‘discursive turn’ in mediatisation studies.

Highlights

When the ‘World Wide Web’ started to mature, the ‘information revolution’ was celebrated by researchers, politicians, policy makers, and others
Stimulated by critical mediatisation theory as well as related accounts of the discourse-reality relationship (e.g. Berger & Luckmann, 1966; Fisher, 2010a, 2010b; Marvin, 1988; Pinch & Bijker, 1984; Schutz, 1967; Williams, 1974), the article asks: if mobile media changes ‘everything’ in life—whose lives are being changed? If mobile media are ‘indispensable’ to modern ways of living—what are they supposed to do? the article speaks to the theme of this thematic issue ‘Media and Social Space: Analysing Mediation and Power’ by interrogating how contemporary mobile technology discourse contributes to theproduction of social space
I have primarily illustrated my findings with quotes and imagery that are typical rather than atypical for the analysed linguistic units. This empirical section demonstrates how the media indispensability trope is constructed by IBM, Huawei, and Ericsson, and in continuation how contemporary corporate technology discourse constructs the media-social space juncture

Summary

Introduction

When the ‘World Wide Web’ started to mature, the ‘information revolution’ was celebrated by researchers, politicians, policy makers, and others. A new kind of technologically driven revolution is said to emerge: the mobility revolution. The revolutionary potentials of mobile media are promoted by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies. The multinational corporation Ericsson, for example, claims in their investors reports that mobile media have led us to ‘the brink of an extraordinary revolution that will change our world forever’ Ericsson’s competitor IBM states in one of their most recent booklets that ‘Just as the Internet did before, mobile networks—and the devices that exploit them—are radically changing the way we interact with the world’

Results

Discussion

Conclusion