理解数字信息生活:2021年全球传播学研究综述

Understanding the Digital Information Life: A Review of Global Communication Research in 2021

本文采用自动化内容分析方法,对2021年度全球传播学研究做出全面的综述,尝试以此为基础归纳传播学理论发展的脉络和趋势。本文认为2021年全球传播学研究呈现出三种基本趋势。第一,研究的基本单位正在从"信息"或"模式"转向各种类型的"关系",致令传播学对社会学和心理学等相关学科的理论依赖程度进一步加深。第二,立足于智能算法和数据科学对固有信息传播模式的重塑,批判理论实现显著发展,对平台、数据主义和算法机制的反思将引领传播学批判理论发展的基本方向。第三,现有研究新议题衍生能力较弱,难以突破经典理论设定的框架,传播学研究应当积极拓展乃至重新厘定"传播"这一概念的边界,实现真正意义上的理论突破。

This article uses automated content analysis methods to make a comprehensive overview of global communication studies in 2021 and attempts to summarize the development and trends of communication theory on this basis.This article believes that there are three basic trends in global communication research in 2021. First, the basic unit of research is shifting from "information" or "model" to various types of "relationships", which has further deepened the theoretical dependence of communication research on sociology,psychology and other related disciplines. Second,based on the reshaping of the inherent information dissemination model by intelligent algorithms and data science,critical theory has achieved significant development, and the reflection on platforms, data doctrines and algorithmic mechanisms will lead the basic direction of the development of critical theory of communication. Third, the existing research on new topics is relatively weak in derivation ability, and it is difficult to break through the framework set by classical theories, which means communication studies should actively expand and even redefine the boundaries of the concept of "communication" to achieve a theoretical breakthrough in the true sense.