Power in the Flattened Internet – Research Challenges

Media studies have enhanced the classic discourse-centred analyses of symbolic power with an additional reflection on the agency of the technological infrastructure through which discourse is produced. The article’s starting point is an overview of concepts related to the role of the technological sphere in communication processes and related social practices. The theoretical reflection is then juxtaposed with examples of research that attempts to capture these relationships on an empirical level, and with a reflection on the resistance that technological matter poses to such activities.