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

Andreas Hepp 32 that the early technology designs of MIT Media Lab cannot in any way be detached from the network’s broader discourse (BRAND, 1987), and that today’s pioneer communities, such as the Quanti- fied Self movement, can be attributed directly to Stuart Brands legacy (KELLY, 2016, p. 237-252). In other words, we can under- stand the making of deep mediatization not only by starting from a political economy of prominent media corporations (MURDOCK, 2017) but by considering the making of deep mediatization as a much lengthier historical process. We can only fully grasp it if we understand it historically and as a process of acting on media. 5. Conclusion Altogether, the arguments made so far in this article stand for the fact that a movement towards deep mediatization is associated with the necessity of fundamentally broadening the perspective of mediatization research. First of all, this con- cerns the area of phenomena that we are dealing with. With digi- talization as the final wave pushing us toward deep mediatiza- tion, media are generally software-based and thus no longer just means of communication, but also means of data processing. On these terms, mediatization research is confronted with the chal- lenge to incorporate the analysis of algorithms and digital infra- structure into its approach. The discussion about the making of deep mediatization has also shown that the view of the relevant actors to be investigated must be broadened: Since “acting on media” no longer only concerns classical actors from the media themselves or media policy and regulation, but increasingly a multitude of other collectivities, a broader perspective appears necessary than has, hitherto, been characteristic of mediatiza- tion research. In addition, digital methods themselves are gain- ing in importance for mediatization research with the general increase in the relevance of the digital. In this sense, speaking of deep mediatization not only refers – empirically speaking – to a particular stage of media- tization. Applied self-reflexively, it means that the self-under - standing of mediatization research changes: regarding its sub- ject area, its theories, and its methods. The past few years of me-