Mediatization, polarization, and intolerance (between environments, media, and circulation)

Mediatization of collective emotions 105 ticed for some time and has been baptized and referred to with other labels. For instance, Harold Innis’ approach to Media Ecol- ogy has emphasized the systemic impact that themedia produces. In this sense, I acknowledge the contribution of au- thors from different currents to consider mediatization a way of showing the relationship between the media and communica- tion, on the one hand, and the changes that result, on the other hand, from the use of new apparatuses in culture and society. As mentioned, it happens that this perception is not new. It has been mentioned for a long time by authors who mon- itor the impacts that media apparatuses have on society. Usually, they conclude that new eras arise as a result of the ability of new means to spread in the social body, conditioning the way people socialize, educate, trade, make politics, and worship their gods. For this reason, it is not by chance the relationships authors make between typography and Lutheranism, for example. Also, the emergence of televangelism is not an accident. Following that, we can then speak of an age of chipped stone, an age of bronze, and an age of iron as we can refer now to the typographical era, the era of radio and television, and the Era of Networks. We concluded that the concept of mediatization com- petes with other traditional terms in the area. In every one of these approaches, the media’s impact on society is assessed to some extent. Perhaps the factor that justifies the need for the emer - gence of this new concept is the speed of adherence to the new apparatuses by society. Another equally new fact capable of jus- tifying the adoption of the new term is perhaps the current tech- nological convergence. In other words, my critical consideration highlights the fact that I perceive in the literature on mediatization the emer- gence of a vocabulary for occurrences and phenomena that are, in fact, old. This is the case, for example, with the mediatization of politics. In their actions, political actors have always taken into account the technological environment in which they lived. I welcome the idea that the media has become so per- vasive today that any and every social actor who wishes to in- teract with the mass audience cannot fail to consider the logic of