Communication and Distance: The Present and Future Interpreted through the Past

This manuscript is one of many in a special issue of the Journal of Applied Communication Research on “Communication and Distance,” Volume 38, No. 1. The articles included in this special issue on communication and distance address several areas of needed research. Authors not only extend their gaze to the social network, they also consider the interface between distanced relational partners and their proximal relationships. Promising areas of future inquiry are the close examination of actual talk within distanced relationships as well as the choice to focus on the most challenging relationships or conversations at or about distance. A related but not yet directly explored move for scholars is shifting research focus from distance-as-context to distance-as-discourse. The later would open up spaces for scholars to critically examine dominant assumptions and constructions regarding communication and distance in not only interpersonal interactions but the public sphere, as well.