Big data discourses are integral to how we come to understand and engage with datafication. This IJoC Special Section explores the semantics of big data in contemporary society. By weaving together three central themes—big data’s materiality, the role of emerging technologies, and the sensemaking around datafication—it interrogates how communication, imagination, and social practices shape and are shaped by the expanding landscape of data-driven innovation. The contributions offer interdisciplinary perspectives on the semantics, imaginaries, and social implications of big data, drawing on empirical research and critical theory to illuminate the evolving relationship between technology, discourse, and meaning-making in the digital age.
Knorr et al. (Tue,) studied this question.