The Problem of Scale in Comparative Historical Analysis

• In Event: Constructing Memories: Comparative Historical Sociotechical Analysis of Media, Communication and Information

Abstract

How do differences in scale play a role in cultural memory? In the case of internet histories, the scale of adoption and use changed so dramatically between 1985 and 2015 that writing about "the internet" of this period as a stable, singular object risks becoming absurd. Yet, one can reasonably compare the technical features, political economies, cultural norms, and administrative protocols of systems such as AOL and Facebook despite their massive disparities in population, reach, geography, capital, etc. Are such leaps in scale necessary for comparative historical analysis? What methods might be appropriate to bringing scale into the picture? How do available archives preserve (or obscure) differences in scale? How might an awareness of scale reshape the popular representation of earlier internets?

Author

• Kevin Driscoll, University of Virginia