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Explaining public communication change: A structure-actor model

delete2025-03-12
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PRE
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Philipp Müller
DOI:10.1177/14614448251321439delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Public communication change (PCC) is often studied in communication research with a somewhat narrow conceptual focus, for instance, either on the contingency or on the determination of communication development. I argue that instead of considering the various extant theoretical approaches as competing and irreconcilable, the field should strive for a holistic understanding that helps integrate them. I consider PCC as a process that unfolds over time in complex multilevel dynamics between macro-level structural transformations and the decisions and resulting behaviors of individual and collective actors. I propose a structure-actor model of PCC that accounts for both, determined and contingent processes simultaneously. It is also able to explain the emergence of paradox phenomena and collective misjudgments despite better knowledge. I conclude by using examples from the context of the filter bubble phenomenon to illustrate the heuristic value of the developed model and sketch an empirical research agenda that follows from its arguments.
Keywords:
Actors
communication change
filter bubble
new media
social structure

Journal

N
New Media and Society
IF:
4.3
Papers:
286
Citations:
1.5W

Organization

No organization information available
Cited Papers

Cited Papers

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The natural life cycle of new media evolution
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PREAI
errSam Lehman-Wilzig; Nava Cohen-Avigdor
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Status quo bias in decision making
err1988-03-01
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errWilliam Samuelson; Richard Zeckhauser
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researcher View more