Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this paper we analyze scholarship on media and information technologies at the intersection of Communication Studies and Science and Technology Studies. More specifically, we focus on three conceptual bridges that have been especially fruitful in both fields: a) prevailing notions about causality in technology-society relationships, b) the process of technology development, and c) the social consequences of technological change. We begin by defining key terms and concepts, and in subsequent sections move to discussions of causality, process, and consequences. We conclude with a summary of the media and information technologies research landscape framed by the three bridges, and consider the implications of that landscape for continued intellectual dialogue between the two fields.