Curators of digital futures: The life cycle of pioneer communities

Abstract

Research typically considers corporate actors such as large tech companies or government agencies as drivers of deep mediatization, the increasing saturation of society by digital media and their infrastructures. This article aims to focus on another group of collective actors: pioneer communities, exemplified by the Maker, Hacks/Hackers, and Quantified Self movements. They are characterized by their experimental practices and their visions of media-related, digital futures. On the basis of published research, the article discusses their life cycle, starting with their formation, when they emerged from the context of social movements and technology-related communities, through their peak phase, during which they receive media attention, to their dispersion phase, a stage in their development characterized by their “becoming everyday” as their experimentation is absorbed into everyday practices. It is argued that the role pioneer communities play in processes of deep mediatization rests in their ability to curate experimentation and visions of digital futures.