Message Without a Medium: Do We Really Need Media Anymore?

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

This panel brings together thought leaders and emerging scholars to discuss the impacts of a “disappearing” medium in mediated communication and future technologies in mediated social behavior research.

The arrival of wearable computers, the Internet of Things (IoT), and virtual and augmented realities are dramatically changing human-computer and computer-mediated human-to-human interactions. Through improved modality, agency, interactivity, and navigability (Sundar, 2008), these technologies offer users greater levels of “presence” and an illusion of non-mediation (Lombard, 1997). The need for having a physical and designated communication device for information retrieval, display and exchange is diminishing. Some tech analysts have gone so far as to predict the “death” of smartphones in the next ten years (Weinberger, 2017).

While several communication theorists have articulated the implications of non-mediation in mediated communication (Jansson, 2013; Lombard, 1997; Parks, 2009), they have not fully accounted for the new possibilities brought about by a combination of ubiquitous internet connection, big data, artificial intelligence, and mixed reality. These emergent technologies expand human activities beyond the realm of physical reality or even create entirely new human experiences. Computer-mediated communication has gone from serial and codified message exchanges to fully immersive experiences enriched with social cues and machine intelligence; and, as the boundaries between the virtual and physical spaces blur, a digitally-mediated society has emerged. This new environment forces us to reexamine fundamental constructs such as media, mediated communication, and mediated behaviors.

The panel will follow a roundtable format. Each panel member will give an 8-10 minutes presentation followed by an open discussion.

Sub Unit

• Communication and Technology

Chair

• Mike Z. Yao, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Individual Presentations

• Ubiquitous Mobile Communication: Present and the Future - Rich Ling, Nanyang Technological U/Telenor

• Platforms, not Media: Affordance is the Message - S. Shyam Sundar, The Pennsylvania State University

• AI-Mediated Communication: From Cyrano de Bergerac to Folk Theories - Jeff Hancock, Stanford U

• Virtually Social: Understanding Social Interactions in Virtual Reality - Andrea Stevenson Won, Cornell University

• Me, Virtual “Me”, Technology-Mediated “Me”, and Data-constructed “Me”: Identity Management and Authenticity in a Hybrid Reality - Mike Z. Yao, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Respondent

• Nicole Ellison, U of Michigan School of Information