Networks, Society, and Polis: Epistemological Approaches on Mediatization

255 Mediatization, communication, and algorithms: a theoretical- methodological proposal for investigating elective affinities 1 Jairo Ferreira 2 Abstract: The general objective of this article is to contrib - ute to the research line in mediatization and social processes, with a set of concepts, hypotheses, and theoretical explana- tions about algorithmic means when they interpose in inter- actions in digital networks, including production and recep- tion of content, schedules, and indexing of offers. The hypoth- esis that guides this formulation is built on the interfaces be- tween mediatized interactions and media interposition. The suggested matrix was created from references between the logics of production, reception, and media, in which each of the poles is transformed and transforms the others. This gen- eral hypothesis is theoretically based, on several levels, pre- sented in sections of the article (media, signs, and technolo- gy; media and dispositifs ; algorithmic logic managing content, programming, indexing, and interactions). These interfaces 1 My thanks to the group of EPISTECOM students, with whom I elaborated the explanatory inferences presented here, when we looked at empirical issues, real problems in social interactions. In particular, I am grateful to Dinis Ferreira Cor- tes (whose work demanded an approximation with Palo Alto’s theory), Letícia Gedrat (who, in her work on autism, calls me to think about authorized voices), and Guilherme Batista (whose dissertation on algorithms invites us to think about elective affinities). In particular, the Quilombo Epistemological study group (Deivison Campos, Angelo Neckel, WilliamMartins, and Thanise Melo), in which reflections on places of discourse have instigated us to s eek more precise theoretical answers to the question of t he polis in media proc esses. 2 Professor at PPGCC-UNISINOS. E-mail: jferreira@unisinos.br