Antinomies of digitalization and visualization in the contemporary mass culture

Abstract

The article is a review of two books that differently assess the processes and results of informatization, networkization and digitalization of the mass society, which have given rise to many phenomena that are antinomic in nature, primarily due to the interweaving positive and negative consequences for social interaction. In the first book - Post-Truth or Fake: The Issue of Truth in Social Media (Saint Petersburg: Vladimir Dal; 2023. 303 p.) - N.A. Rhodossky conducts a ‘retrospective analysis’ of the concept and role of the media in “the development of philosophy of cyberculture”; the book is a ‘compendium’ of categories and conceptual approaches to the study of social media. The second book by A. Bruns Are Filter Bubbles Real? (Transl. from English by A. Arkhipova; ed. by A. Pavlov. Moscow: HSE Publishing House; 2023. 120 p.) focuses on one aspect in the functioning of social media - “the influence of the ideologically biased echo chambers and filter bubbles on the nature of public discussions”, and also systematizes the conflicting assessments of the consequences of the ever-increasing digitalization of our everyday life.

Keywords

• (new) social media
• digitalization
• post-truth
• echo chambers
• filter bubbles
• communication
• network space
• antinomies