Abstract
The January 2021 issue of the Journal of Communication Inquiry critically examines the relationships between technologies, people, and cultures.
The issue begins with a themed section featuring critical perspective on human-machine communication. While technologies have long been tools for communication between humans, advancements in technology have led to machines now functioning as standalone communicative interlocuters. Digital assistants like Siri and Alexa, wearable technologies like FitBits, social media bots, augmented reality apps, and additional technologies increasingly shape the ways people learn about and make sense of the world.
The first article in the themed section, “Religious Automation at Work: Communicating Human Authority in Artificial Intelligence Networks” by Pauline Hope Cheong, critiques the ontological assumption that human-machine communication exists outside of power relations. Instead, Cheong argues that human agents influence AI to (re)produce cultural values within the future of work.
Next, Melissa Zimdars examines the relationship between wearable technologies and the self in “The Self-Surveillance Failures of Wearable Communication.” Zimdars examines discourses about people discontinuing the use of FitBits, arguing that wearable technology communicates with people in the same ways as other forms of communication—full of inconsistencies, contradictions, and interpretations by the people receiving the messages.
The final article in our themed section, “I Am/We Are: Exploring the Online Self-Avatar Relationship” by Lesley Procter, examines the relationship between users and avatars online. While most research into this relationship has examined how users control avatars, Procter argues that avatars function as extended selves of users, where the parasocial relationship between the user and avatar can lead to the avatar influencing the user. Procter uses their extended participant observation of Second Life to provide observations of the self-avatar relationship.
Outside of our themed section but still in conversation with the January issue’s general focus on technology and society is “‘In My Own Opinion’: Negotiation of Rabbinical Authority Online in Responsa Within Kipa.co.il” by Ruth Tsuria and Heidi Campbell. This article explores how Israeli Jewish rabbis construct authority online through answering questions from anonymous users through online Responsa. The authors argue that participation in these online spaces reframes the role of rabbis.
Finally, in his review of Maggie Dwyer and Thomas Molony’s edited collection, “Social Media and Politics in Africa: Democracy, Censorship, and Security,” David Tuwei applauds the book’s editors on bringing together a diverse collection of case studies examining “the complexities and contradictions of the relationships between various actors in the political landscape, such as ordinary users, civil society organizations (CSOs), governments, and others.”
Thank you to the authors, reviewers, editorial board, advisory board, and SAGE publishing for their work in making this issue possible. I would especially like to thank the authors and reviewers who continued to diligently work on their manuscripts for our themed section throughout COVID-19.