Oh, What Webs Those Phantoms Spin

Couch Revisited: A Theoretical Treatment of The Information‐Technological Media of Imgur, Reddit, and Twitter

“…Focusing on an individual's mental models seems to align with the belief that the social atom of sociology is the individual, which Couch (1995a) rejects. Instead, Couch (1995a) follows Simmel, believing that meaningful action stems from at least two individuals or parties: the focus of research is social interaction (Chen and Johns 2002;Couch 1995a). It is the "dyad, not the individual, [who] is the minimal unit of analysis if the intent is to formulate propositions about social processes" (Couch 1984:6).…”

“…If the basic ontology of the interaction tradition is a processual one (Couch 1984:3), then we must attend to the processes that occur within the confines of digital formatting. Couch (1995a) presented an incisive critique of the theorizing of his day, which, as mentioned briefly earlier, was not heeded by many scholars. Therefore, it is worthwhile to critique researchers since his day, using his carefully nuanced perspective.…”

“…In the least, critiques would not have been so few in the early years and so slow to develop thereafter. Couch (1995a) describes clearly the variance within human history which demonstrates that technological innovations do not deterministically control the ensuing character of a society: he points to the introduction of the printing press to Western Europe as compared to that of China, and the question of the relationship between written language and bureaucratic state structures within a myriad of ancient cultures including the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Inca of South America. By doing so, he emphasizes the social relationships that contextualize social acts while utilizing information technologies, rather than focusing exclusively on information technologies alone as the sole determinants that will improve or alter people's lives.…”

“…In this article, I apply Couch's (1995a) perspective to three contemporary, highly trafficked digital spaces, demonstrating the fecundity of his perspective for analyzing digitally mediated interactions. After a brief overview of digital sociologists' work since Couch's writing, I will describe the main website of my inquiry, www.Imgur .com (hereafter "Imgur").…”

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In this paper, I argue that unique locations of digital interactions constitute distinct information-technological media. I first apply a close reading of Couch's (1995a) work to digital sociology, and then analyze three popular social media networks: www.Imgur.com, www .Reddit.com, and www.Twitter.com. I close with a theoretical application of Couch's paradigm for analyzing the qualities of information technologies.

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