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The Affordances of Blogging

A Case Study in Culture and Technological Effects

Columbia University

Informed by Carey's cultural approach to communication, this article revisits the debate about the historical impact of new communication technologies. Several studies have pointed to technology "affordances" as offering a useful middle ground between determinist and social constructivist perspectives. This article explores how the concept of affordance might be tweaked to emphasize what an emerging technology suggests in time to the cultures using and developing it. The second half of the article illustrates the discussion with a close examination of the affordances of blogging technology and especially of a novel communications genre: news-related blogs.

Key Words: technological determinism • social construction • affordance • news • blogging

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Journal of Communication Inquiry, Vol. 31, No. 4, 331-346 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0196859907305446


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Graves, L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?