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Teoría sobre la interacción de usuarios con nuevas tecnologías
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7/18/2019 Jouet Communication and Mediation Article Reso 0969-9864 1994 Num 2-1-3261
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Josiane JouëtLiz Libbrecht
Communication and mediationIn: Réseaux, 1994, volume 2 n°1. pp. 71-90.
Abstract
Summary: Throughout the Cold War two types of radio stations broadcast to the Communist countries: 'sovereign' radio (e.g.
BBC, RFI) and 'substitute' radio (e.g. Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty). They developed, from the same sources of information,
two distinct styles of production and relations with listeners. These radio stations were both a political instrument and a cultural
vector, a link with the West and a medium for local communications, until broadcasting finally gained its freedom through political
change.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Jouët Josiane, Libbrecht Liz. Communication and mediation. In: Réseaux, 1994, volume 2 n°1. pp. 71-90.
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/reso_0969-9864_1994_num_2_1_3261
7/18/2019 Jouet Communication and Mediation Article Reso 0969-9864 1994 Num 2-1-3261
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COMMUNICATION
AND
MEDIATION
JosianeJOUËT
Translated
by Liz
Libbrecht
Summary:
How
can communication practices,
transformed by
the emergence of computerized technologies
and
the evolution of
the televisual system, be
analysed? This
article
considers
both
technical
and social
mediation.
The influence of technology
is
manifest in the modelling of practices
on
its logic and
performance
and
in the increasing
technicality
of the
communication
process.
That of
society
is seen in an
individualization and personalization
of
uses,
a
combination
of
technical rationality
and
subjectivity. Yet the social link remains
of theframework of reference which gives
meaning
to
practices.
71
7/18/2019 Jouet Communication and Mediation Article Reso 0969-9864 1994 Num 2-1-3261
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COMMUNICATION
AND MEDIATION
4 COMMUNICATION
AND
MEDIATION
JosianeJOUËT
The entrality of mediatized com
munication tools,
which have
become
standard
in
all
aspects
of
daily
life, is one of the
most
signi
ficant features of social change
in ad
vanced industrial societies. The
use
of
these
devices
extends from leisure-
oriented activities
to the working environ
mentnd daily
tasks. Concurrently,
all
uses of the
media
are proliferating forms
of
new
'communicationaT behaviour are
emerging.
The
extended use of communication
tools
has coincided with the
arrival
in the typi
cal
ome,
of a new
range
of
equipment,
commonly referred
to
as 'new information
and communication technologies' (NICT),
including
microcomputers,
the
Minitel,
video
games, VCRs,
CD players,
tel
ephones with
a
memory and special
func
tions,
answering machines and faxes.
These
technologies
vary considerably
both
in
their
technical components
and
in
their
functions. Some
are
computer-
based,
such
as
microcomputers
or
the
Minitel, whereas others
remain analogue
devices,
but their
functioning
is
often
based
on
numeric commands. The term
'computer-based technologies' has been
chosen
here
to
denote
all
of
these
new
communication tools.
The evolution of communication practices
cannot however
be limited to the use
of
such devices, for it is also reaching the
sphere
of
traditional
mass
media.
Telev
ision-viewing is undergoing profound
change due to
the use
of peripheral equip
ment such as
video-cassette
recorders or
remote control devices,
but
also
as a
re
su lt
of
technical
changes
in
the
televisual
system and
the
proliferation of
the
choice
of
programmes
offered over the past de
cade.
Communication practices
are often
ana
lysed
as being
the
product of changes
in
communication
systems
and
equipment,
which
are thought to define de
facto
the
way in which individuals
use them.
Such
technical determinism, however,
should
be avoided.
The same can
be
said of
the
limiting
model
of
social
determinism
which ignores
the
role of technical objects
and
rather
sees social change as
the
prin
cipal factor
determining
usage.
Nowadays
communication
practices in
volve dual mediation which is both tech
nical and social, since the
device
used
structures
the
practice and since
the
practice structures itself
through
the
rules,
meanings and
motives found
in the
social
environment.
Technical
develop
mentsnd
social change
meet, and
these
practices
provide
a
highly
favourable
field
for observing
and defining this conver
gence.
This article
examines
first those social
facts
which bear
witness
to the
signifi
cancef technology, and
secondly
those
which demonstrate social
dynamics.
The
infiltration of technological and social
mediation
into
the
formation of
communic
ation
ractices
is then
defined
through
changes in
the
lifestyle and
discourse
of
users.
73
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Josiane JOUĚT
74
Technical
mediation
Man-machine dialogue
has become com
mon
in
this latter
part
of
our century
as
homes are filled
with
communication de
vices used to
converse in
natural or coded
language. The
drop in prices, miniaturi
zationf equipment and simplification of
their
use have popularized
such devices
and made the most
advanced technol
ogies vailable to
the
uninitiated. Their
role in
daily life
raises
a series
of questions
on the evolution of the communication
process
and on
its social impact. It
in
fact
creates
a
link
between
the
architecture
of
technical
objects on the
one hand
and the
construction of social practices
on the
other.
Computer-based
tools
are
leading
to an evolution
in communication which
is also seen
in
the
use
of established
media
such
as television.
An increasingly
technical
communication process
Today's
computer-based communication
devices can be operated
only
if
the
archi
tecture of
the
technology is
respected.
An
increasingly technical communication
process is therefore being combined with
the
computer paradigm
and
being inte
grated
into
daily life.
The relationship between
users and
com
munication
tools
functions
in different
ways,
depending
on
the
technical
makeup
of
the
devices and
their
level of inter
activity. Whereas microcomputers are
the
most
interactive
domestic machines,
the
Minitel
is less interactive, and
other
household
communication
technologies
such as
VCRs
even
less
so. It is therefore
more
appropriate
to talk of interaction
than
of interactivity as
such.
Interactivity
is,
in
effect,
man-machine dialogue
which
is not only based
on
a continuing ex
change
of
commands
and
replies,
but
which also gives
users the
possibility of
intervening in natural or coded language
in the
contents
of
this
exchange.
tivity influences the
construction
of use
for it requires
the
continuing and active
presence of
the
user if
the
machine is to
function.
The interactive situation is therefore very
different from
the
use of 'digital' devices
which
carry
out
their 'programme' alone
at
the
touch of one or two
buttons
(e.g.
VCRs or
CD players).
These
electronic
non-computer-based devices function in
the
analogue mode but do nevertheless
include a numeric component (e.g. for
display or programming), which
directs
the
use
of
the
machine. Users must
ac
cept
the
machine's logic and follow
the
operating
order if
their
instructions are to
be carried
out.
'Digital technologies' are in fact
signif
icantly different from
former household
appliances. They often offer a wide range
of uses which, because of their complexi
tyequire
a
certain degree of
know-how.
Users,
put off by the difficulty of
operating
instructions,
only rarely
use
all
the
possible functions. However, they have
the possibility of programming their mac
hines,
for
example the
VCR to record
selected TV programmes, or of selecting
specific
information
such as a sequence
of a
film
or a message
on the
answering
machine. The
principles
of programming
and sequential logic
are
henceforth in
scribed
in the
operation of everyday ap
pliances and
have become, through
experience,
an
integral part
of
the
mental
schema
of
a
large
number
of users (Jouet,
1990).
Traditional mass
media
are also
gradually
moving towards interactivity
even
if inter
active television remains experimental.
Cable television is making money out of
the pay-per-view system, and viewers
can
react
directly
by means
of
telematic polls
during
the broadcasting of
programmes.
With
the
development
of
video games,
the
status
of
television sets is
changing
rapidly. P. Chambat and A. Ehrenberg
announce the
emergence
of
a
screen cul-
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COMMUN ICATION AND MEDIATION
ture based
on
new ways of consuming
television,
such
as
the
transformation of
TV screens Into
display terminals for
in
teractive
processes
(Chambat
Ehren-
berg,
1988). Interactivity
thus appears
to
be
one of the future dimensions of the
television
set.
The dominance
of the computer-based
model
is not therefore bound to
the
use of
the
computer alone, but
permeates the
'digital
technologies'
that
surround
every
body. Users
of NICT develop a new rela
tionship with communication
tools
and
acquire,
in
an
informal
way,
computer-
type
skills
which become part of their
usual
communication
practices.
These
skills are
in
most cases rudimentary
and
limited to
basic operating procedures,
since
the
everyday
use
of
computer-based
tools
is
essentially
dependent on an emp
irical approach which
includes
de facto
a familiarization with procedures re
quired by
the machine.
This
informal
learning
of
a
technology's
codes
is
however not
necessarily
a source
of knowledge about
the
technology itself.
There
are significant
differences
between,
on the
one hand, a minority of individuals
who
are
interested
in
a technology as
such
and
who
acquire
theoretical
knowl
edge
bout it, like computer
hacks, and
on the
other hand
the
vast
majority of
users who have a purely instrumental
approach
to
their
machines.
For
the uni
nitiated
the
technology
remains
a black
box,
although with practical
use
its
mat
eriality
can be grasped, and operating
skills - and sometimes even some theoret
ical
nowledge
- acquired. Familiariza
tionith
the operating instructions
provides access to
the
Junction but not to
the
Jimctioning of
the
technology and even
less so to a thorough knowledge of it.
Nevertheless,
a
phenomenon
of
superfic
ialcculturation to the technology and
logic
of
the
computer
can
now
be
wit
nessed
spreading throughout
the
differ
ent
trata of society. The
user-culture
is
thereby
gaining technical
features,
which
do
not of course constitute a technical
culture as such, but which are
gradually
permeating people's
habitual
frameworks
of
reference.
If
the
use of computer-based
technologies
is becoming unavoidably
'technical',
that
of any other media also requires famil
iarity
with
the
codes
and
language
of
the
technology.
Thus the subjective construc
tionf meaning in televisual reception
does not
exclude the 'technical'
interpre
tation
f
the
contents even
if
the
latter are
finally reinterpreted in
relation
to the
so
cial,
cultural
and personal
references
of
each
person. Users acquire the ability to
understand the
language
of broadcasting
and of
images
and to interpret messages
which allow them, for example,
to
antici
pate
he
outcome of fiction scenarios (Ber
trand, de
Gournay Mercier, 1988).
This
ability reveals familiarization with the
codes
of the
medium.
Yet with
interactive or
digital technol
ogies,
a
break
in
the
relationship
with
the
machine
can
be
observed. The communi-
cational
skills
that are applied are not of
the
same
nature since they
are
based on
the
concrete
and physical experience of
technical materiality.
These tools
require
the
user's participation, not
simply in
interpreting messages, but also
in opera
tinghe technical system.
The
user dic
tates
his
or her commands to the machine
which, in
turn,
imposes
the
technical
logic
of
its
operation.
The diffusion
of
technical
values
into
usage
Whilst
computer-based tools
make the
act of
communication
more technical,
they also convey values of rationality and
performance
which permeate
practices.
New models of action
emerge
which
chan
nel
ndividual
and
collective
expression
and
become part
of
a
large number
of
daily activities,
given the
increasing
use
of
this
equipment.
They
therefore
appear
75
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Josiane
JOUĚT
76
as the organizers of action.
The applica
tionsf
all computer
tools well
illustrate
this diffusion
of technical values into
the
elaboration
of
practices.
The
programmi
nf action is
the
same as
that
of a
technology ...
the mere use
of digital tech
nologies
conforms
to the
model
that
cel
ebrates performance. The execution of
separate operations composed of orders,
selection, sequential follow-up and stor
ing ecomes a habit. Operating a
machine
puts
to work a paradigm of formal
logic,
rapidity
and efficiency
that invades
daily
professional
and private
life. The practice
integrates
the
technology's
principles
of
rationality,
order and
coherence,
which
shape
ways of
doing
things and
new
be
havioural patterns' (Jouet, 1990).
Computers
are
often
considered
as
teachers
of rigour,
order and
method for
they
require
a step-by-step
and rigid
ap
proach.
The professional
applications of
these
tools,
for
example,
lead
to the
reor
ganization of work methods
around
their
formal
procedures.
A
growth
of
productivi
tyan be seen to result, and
the
ration
alization of
tasks
within
jobs
would
seem
to be
related
to
the
rationale of
the
ma
chine itself.
The
setting of
a professional
performance standard is often linked to
the use
of computers.
With telematics, information-processing
activities within
a domestic
and personal
context such as enquiries, reservations
on
public
transport,
banking
transac
tions, tc.
are
henceforth formatted
within
the
framework of operating proce
dures, and
the
interactivity of
the
tech
nique is expected to produce
maximal
efficiency
in
man-machine dialogue.
Time-saving
and the
optimization of ser
vices are
essential
motives for using
the
Minitel.
Furthermore,
the
memory functions of
technical devices
ae
increasingly
used
in
the management
of
people's
daily
lives.
Databanks
such
as
the
electronic
tel
ephone
directory
are commonly
used,
and
machines are given the task of storing
personal and professional
information
such as
the
most
frequently
dialled numb
ers
n
telephones
with
special
functions,
or appointments
on
electronic pocket
diaries with
an
alarm. The technical ob
ject
becomes a
partner guaranteeing
order,
while
life-styles
integrate its
values
of performance such as time-savings, pro
ductivity and
rigour.
Even uses
such
as
video
games
are inspired by
the
attraction
of performance.
The entire media system is steeped in
these
values.
The
current
emphasis
on
the
technical achievement of live satellite
broadcasting of events taking
place
any
where in the world, is the
result
of this
striving
for
information
in its
entirety.
Nothing
must escape
the
eye of television
cameras
or that
of
the
TV
viewer.
Even
viewers'
attitudes
bear
witness
to
this
attraction, shown by ardent zappers
who
try to
watch all programmes at
the same
time
(Bertrand, de
Gournay Mercier,
1988).
With the
VCR
and
the
creation
of
private vidéothèques, technology again
acts as a
memory
as
TV
viewers thems
elves become efficient managers of their
viewing
'programme' even if they
never
watch all
the
cassettes
recorded.
The
values
of performance
and order
which
are integral to advanced
technologies
therefore also become part of audiovisual
communication practices. This technol
ogical nfluence does not however
mean
that
practices
correspond
to
rational
models
of use.
The singularity
of ways of
doing
things
Communicational practices bring out
particular patterns
of behaviour
which
reveal
how each person adapts
to the
technical object. The encounter with a
communication
tool
is
the
source
of
a
specific
communicational
experience
that
involves
not only
the
knowledge of
the
technology's
codes
and the acquisition of
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COMMUNICATION
AND MEDIATION
operating
skills,
but also
the
elaboration
of particular ways of doing
things.
This
experience
is
essentially
that of the user's
concrete
relationship
with
the
technology.
It represents the processes by which
users devote themselves
to
mental
and
practical
operations in
their utilization of
such
tools,
and by which they also
create,
empirically, their own ways of using
them.
As an example,
the
use of a
word-proces
sor
equires
a minimum
knowledge
of
the
software and
of certain operating proce
dures,
but each person nevertheless
de
velops
his own
way
of
utilizing
it.
Thus
besides being
'forced' to respect the archi
tecture of
the
machine's language,
the
user is granted a large degree of flexibility
allowing him to raid the
computer's memo
ry o
recreate
texts, to combine
diverse
elements
and think spontaneously,
with
out ecessarily being
limited
by technical
rationality. An adjustment takes
place
between
the
disorder of intuitive thinking
and the
ordering of
ideas favoured
by
the
technology.
This
can
moreover
be
related
to the feeling that one is
playing a
kind of
game when using a computer
(Proulx,
1988). Furthermore,
the
mediation of
the
machine
produces
a distancing from
in
tellectual
production
which makes
this
activity
both freer and more
efficient.
Each user of
the
word-processor therefore
has 'his way' of employing the functions
of the software and of writing on the
screen.
The use of
any
communication technol
ogynvolves personal behavioural pat
terns. The diversity of ways of watching
television indicates of
this
personalizat
ion.ny
TV viewer
chooses
his relation
shipith
the supply of messages and
has,
for
example,
his own way
of
using his
remote
control
device
to
select
the
screens
of his unique choice.
Thus
individuals
create their own
modes
of using
the media
and
integrating them into
their life-styles.
The
communicatlonal
experience there
forencludes the
skills acquired by
indi
viduals through their familiarization
with
the
codes
and
operating
functions
of any
communication
tool,
as
well
as particular
ways of dealing with the
technical
object,
both
of
which
constitute
the
construction
of
the
practice.
Social mediation
Whilst
the
mediation of technology is not
neutral
in the elaboration of communicat
ionractices, these are
equally
in
fluenced by the dynamics of social
change.
The emergence
of 'active and au
tonomous
users
has
become
a
common
feature of
the
evolution
of
communication
systems.
Nevertheless,
a distinction
must
be made
between
the
different levels of
this
autonomy.
There is indeed an indi-
vidualization of the use of
all
types of
media,
and communication practices
comprise, de
facto,
a subjective dimen
sionor
they are based on
individual
ways
of
doing
things, respond to
specific expec
tations
and
are linked
to
individual re
presentations
which draw
from
the
imagination.
But subjectivity
is brought
into
play
to varying degrees, depending on
the activity.
Whereas it
is marked in
watching
television, particularly fiction, it
is far less
evident
in the
functional
usage
of
the
media, such
as
the
consultation of
the Minitel for practical purposes, and is
dominant
in the use
of computer-based
technologies
that
demand personal invo
lvement and
are
highly
charged
emotiona
lly
Furthermore,
the
autonomy
of practices
is
relative,
for subjective
approaches
do
not
take place
in a vacuum filled only by
the
mediation
of the technical
object; they
are inscribed
in the reference to
society as
a whole
and in
the
search for
a new social
link.
From the individualization to the
personalization
of
practices
In the broadcasting
sector,
the
1980s
i
naugurated a
tendency
towards increasing 77
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Josiane
JOUĚT
78
fragmentation of
viewing
and an individ-
ualization
of
practices. Faced with
an
abundance of programmes, users today
tend
to
adopt
autonomous
behaviour
that
is not unrelated to
the
new cult of individ
ualism. Television is
particularly
indicat
ive
f
this evolution, as noted by
Pierre
Chambat
and
Alain Ehrenberg:
'.. our society's
individualistic
tend
ency is also
influencing
the
com
mon base of our televisual
experience.
In short,
the
transfor
mation f our cultural models is
characterized
by
a
threefold
di
splacement:
from
the mass to the
individual, from passiveness to ac-
tiveness,
from
spectacle
to
com
munication
...
For television, this
representation
of the future is seen
in
new stereotypes under
the
aegis
of communication values. It tends,
in
effect,
to
switch
from
a
concep
tionf force-feeding, where 'the'
viewer is
imagined
as an impress
ionable
and
fragile
child,
incapable
of
any judgement,
to a
conception
of
autonomy
where the technology
makes an
adult
of him and
the
numerous channels
give
him fre
edom of choice
and
even
control
of
his
judgement' (Chambat Ehrenb
erg 988).
TV viewers are in
fact freeing themselves
from
their
dependence
on
the
media.
Rather than remaining glued to a single
programme, as in
the
past, they
react
to
the
multiplication of channels by select
ing,
nd increasing use of remote
control.
'Zapping
appears
as a massive phenomen
on.household TV set
changes
its
status
on
average
nearly 23
times a day
(switching on, plus channel changes).
This corresponds to over five changes per
hour's viewing' (Chabrol Périn, 1991).
This
active
behavioural
pattern
can
be
identified
in
the
mobility,
selection
and
*
For
a synthesis of this
work
see
Dayan, 1992.
diversification
of the use of mass media.
Thus
the
VCR, found in
nearly
half of
all
French homes in
1993,
enables viewers to
free
themselves
from
the
constraints
of
set times and to watch rented or bought
films of
their own choice. Furthermore,
the
tendency
towards the
individualiza-
tion of
usage is
growing today as
more
homes are equipped with more
than
one
set.
This reduces
the
practice of family
viewing, and points to a
repetition
of
the
phenomonon of fragmentation of radio
listening produced by transistor radios.
The broadcasting media,
in
spite
of
their
'massifying' nature, have
moreover
a
lways
given rise to personalized use. Re
search
on use and
gratification has
treated media consumption as a
'finalized
activity',
responding
to intentions based
on the
psychological
and
social needs of
individuals (Blunder Katz, 1974). Cul
tural studies in
Britain
and
America
also
show
the
complexity of reception,
seen
as
an activity
that mobilizes the
individual
and
sets
into
action
a
series
of
psychologic
l
nd
social processes
related to
his
or
her personal experience and cultural mi
lieu (Hall, 1980). This approach was
con
tinued
in
ethnographic
studies of
audiences (Morley, 1980). Furthermore,
research
on
reception
recently
took an
interest
n the inter-cultural
dimension as
a structuring element of
the
interpreta
tionf media products (Liebes
Katz,
1986). In
particular these
studies
em
phasize
the
process
by
which
viewers
i
nterpret
messages,
as
well
as
the
productive activity of a
reader, listener
or
televiewer. Reception
is
understood as a
subjective construction of
meaning.*
A
qualitative survey
(Bertrand,
de Gournay
Mercier, 1988) shows
how
ardent
zap-
pers recreate their own programme from
a mosaic of
sequences that
they glance at
fleetingly,
with
television becoming
the
medium for subjective fiction. The con
ceptua l i zation
of
reception
has thus
allowed us to rethink
the
use of mass
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COMMUNICATION
AND
MEDIATION
media and to highlight the subjectivity of
televisual practices.
In
the
case
of
interactive
technologies,
the
construction
of usage corresponds to
a
different model,
based on
different
prin
ciples.
The
interactivity
of these
machines
demands
the
participation of individuals
in the
communication process,
and
their
versatility
requires
that
they construct
their
own
use. There is therefore a break
with the mass media model; usage is no
longer
measured
as a free activity of se
lection and interpretation of messages.
The
reception
model cannot
apply
to
these
technologies because they do not broad
cast rogrammes, they only talk through
their technical
potential
which
conveys
a
code of rationality and
'performativity'.
Software
states
nothing; it
dialogues.
Usage
is combined
with
a predetermined
technical
potential
which
forms an
una
voidable framework of reference.
Users
choose an application and construct their
use
with
reference to the
possibilities
and
limits
of
the
services
and
programmes
utilized.
Interactive
technologies
are characterized
by a
high degree of
individualization
of
practices. Versatility
is the interactive
component
that
allows for considerable
variety in
the
use of
these tools.
Thus, use
of
the Minitel includes
inquiries,
transac
tionsnd interpersonal
communication,
and microcomputers can be used for
games,
office
management,
information
processing, and
the
design
of
pro
grammes to meet specific requirements.
It is the user who,
with his
input,
con
structs
the final
product.
Rationality
and
subjectivity
Computer-based
technologies
lend
thems
elves particularly well to personal invo
lvement
which favours
subjectivity.
Their
principles
of
order
and
efficiency
per
meate usage and then co-exist
with
the
emergence
of
this
marked
subjectivity.
It
is the user
who becomes
the nodal
ment
and
who
in
a sense
shapes the
technology. The
quality
of
autonomy that
is incorporated
in the
architecture of
these devices
shifts
from
the
technology
to
the
user;
users
appropriate
the mac
hine s qualities of performance and inde
pendence for their own fulfilment
(Jouet,
1989).
The expression of
subjectivity
takes
differ
ent
orms depending
on the
individual's
relationship
to the
technical object. Three
typical
practices
illustrate
the
way
in
which
subjectivity
is born in
the
use of
computers
or
the Minitel.
(a) Professional applications of home
com
puters are modelled
on the
rationality of
the technology and
may
also be accompan
ied
y
subjective
behaviour related to an
aspiration
for personal accomplishment.
Individuals then
appropriate
the
qualities
of
the machine to
increase their
inde
pendence
and the
efficiency of their indi
vidual production. Having
the machine
at
home
gives
them
the
advantage, amongst
others, of not being assigned
to
a
place
of
work
and of
being
free from
institutional
constraints. Thus
for executives, certain
professionals and intellectuals, who are
the
main users of
home
computers for
professional
purposes, the use of these
machines often arises from a desire for
independence and individual control of
the work process,
which
is
a
form of self-
management of
their production. The
microcomputer
is
adopted
with
the
aim
of
increasing
professional
efficiency
and
productivity,
but
also
for
the flexibility
that
it provides since it makes it possible
to work at
the
desired
pace and time. In
this model, the value
of computers is first
and foremost that
of
promoting an
indi
vidual s professional
success. The
prac
tice f
using
them
therefore
corresponds
to
a response
to an approach
dictated by
the
primacy of personal initiative, individ
ual
roduction
or
even
creativity.
(b ) Personal programming originates in
the will to
master
the technology and the
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Josiane JOUĚT
80
pleasure of subjective communication
with
the machine.
(Computer
hacks
take
the
rivalry between their own intelligence
and
that
of
their
computer
very
seriously.)
It therefore
integrates the
rationality
of
the
machine and
moulds itself
to
its
logic,
but
the
relational
value of
the
technology
replaces
the usage
value
that
prevails
in
the
professional self-management model.
In
man-machine interaction,
the
technol
ogys in
effect
the only referent
which
fulfils
the function of
mirroring
the pro
grammer s mental activity. However,
this
dialogue
does
not only
take place
through
the
mobilization
of
the
intellect but
through
a
psychic and
emotional
projec
tion
nto the
machine, which
enables
Sherry Turkle
(1986)
to talk of
'the
Rors-
chach
computer'.
Computer hacks often
regard their hobby as a passion
and de
scribe the
narcissistic
pleasure
of interac
tion ith the machine. Personal
programming is characterized by a soli
tary and
largely
self-taught practice
which
aims
at self-assertion
and
consoli
dation
of
the
ego.
It
displays subjective
behaviour
and is
founded
on the quest
for
personal achievement.
(c) The approach is
very
different when it
comes to
the
use of telematics for inte
rpersona l exchange
of messages with
strangers. The prescribed finality of
the
technology as a practical and functional
instrument is
diverted for
the purpose of
games
with a
large
element of
fantasy,
usually
of
a
sexual
nature. Being
anony
mous nd using pseudonyms
encourages
the
elaboration
of
a new
form of
social
interchange which frees
itself
from social
norms and codes. Message services inau
gurate the
construction of interpersonal
electronic communication
where subject
ivity
nd narcissism are deployed
at
will.
Nothing is
apriori rational
in this
practice,
so often described as an 'electronic
carnival',
a
vast
social
disorder
which
functions
at
the level
of imagination and
desire. Everything therefore
seems to
op
pose message services to
the
model
of
order and rationality of
the
technology
that mediates
it. Yet,
there
is a close
interrelation
between
the
architecture of
the
technology
and
the
construction
of
the
electronic social link.
An
analysis of
modes
of communication built
around
message
services makes it
possible to
overcome
the
main
antinomy
between
the
technical and
the
social processes, and
to
identify
the
structural
homology
between
the
principles
of the
operational device
and forms of interpersonal exchange.
First,
the configuration
of
the technical
system
defines
the
meeting
place.
The
Minitel
screen
fulfils
a
dual function: it is
a
shield that encourages anonymity and
the use
of pseudonyms (to be protected);
but also a mirror
that
reflects
the
fan
tasies and narcissism which pave
the
way
for
the
intimacy of interchange (it is
thought). Secondly, the communication
software
appears
as the
technical speaker
that
leads
the friendly dialogue.
The is
omorphism
that
results between
the
tech
nical
and
conversational structures
can
be seen on several levels.
Dialogue
is
punctuated
by technical
interactivity and
is woven around
a
continual coming and
going
between
speakers.
The computer
logic,
moreover,
dictates
the
modes of
the
practice
and users must accept
the
soft
ware s codes. They must therefore
demo
nstrate
skills based
on
knowledge of
the
technical procedure of
the
interchange,
the ability to write on the machine and
dexterity
in
the
required
manipulations.
With the
loss
of traditional referents in
electronic communication, words
provide
all
the
piquancy in
the
messages.
They
reveal
identities
and are
agents
of selec
tion ased
on spelling,
humour,
style
and
the
contents of messages.
Users
develop
personal
tactics
and
become
specialists in
managing dialogue, choose their corre
spondents, exchange messages with sev
eral
interlocutors
and
initiate
interaction
that corresponds
to their desires. The
use
of message services thus bears
witness to
a particularly
rich
communication expert-
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COMMUNICATION AND MEDIATION
ence
which
includes and
skilled
the ela
boration of specific ways of doing
things
in the dual management of
technical
and
social
interaction.
The use of message services
thus
imple
ments
a certain
control
of social
interplay
which matches
the
performance of
the
software. The mediation of telematics
in
fluences
modes
of interaction and
tele-
matic encounters are not devoid of an
instrumental dimension.
Electronic
ex
change is
operational
first through the
technical device and
then through the
social
link.
Social
organization
and
tech
nical syntax
are
the
result
of
a close
inter
linking.
Nevertheless, whereas message services
integrate
the
rules of
the
technology,
the
contents of
the
messages originate
in the
pleasure
of social transgression
and the
expression of the
imaginary. The
game of
love on
a screen
is innovative and li
berating for it provides
freedom
from social
conventions
and
reintroduces
the
central
position of
sex
in
social
interchange, a
lthough it is also profoundly
traditional
and regressive. According to Marc Guil
laume these practices
inaugurate 'post-
modem tinkering
based
on
a mixture of
hyper-functional
devices and archaic
po
sitions
(Guillaume,
1989). On
the Minitel
screen one can
finally
play out one's sex
ual identity, escape
the
overwhelming
blurring of
gender identity
and relive the
archaic
models
of
relationships between
the
sexes. Convivial
dialogue
does not
only
permit one to affirm
one's
sex,
it also
offers
the
possibility of changing
it.
Dis
guising oneself is a way of discovering
others, but also of gaining
access
to one's
own otherness.
Thus message
services
reveal
both
the
permanence
of the
major
archaic figures of
primary
oneness and
sexual differentiation
(Jouet, 1991).
Strangely, it is
the
mediation of
the
tech
nology,
a
cold
and
disincarnated
pros
thesis, that
serves
as
a channel
to reveal
the
contents of
the
unsaid. This game of
electronic
love is
thus
based
on the
dox of fantasy regression
and
technologi
c l
dvance.
Message
services
appear
to
be
an
epiphe-
nomenon which reveals
the
profoundup
heavals in
our society. On
the
one hand,
electronic encounters are inscribed
in
the
model
of
technical
performance; on the
other
hand,
users indulge in
their
drives
and elaborate a mode of
interchange
based mainly
on the
imaginary which
transgresses principles of rationality. The
result is
an interrelation
between
the
so
cial and technical and these two poles
concurrently
construct
the
social
inscrip
tionf
the
message
service.
The
social
link
The
personalization
of practices and the
implementation of subjectivity, by way of
interactive
technologies, are however
in
no
way devoid of social projections. Subj
ective practices,
whilst
being the basis of
self-procreation, of
a 'production
of the
self,
only
have
their
meaning
in
and
through
the
social
dimension.
In the use
of message services, this
dimension imposes itself from the
start
through the
search for a new mode of
interchange, but
this
quest, based as it is
on
fantasy,
appears
as an artifice which
also
masks
a desire for
real experiences.
Users
moreover consider
that the
rela
tionships
established through telematics,
including those
that
lead
to
common
ac
tivities,
cannot
be
likened
to traditional
ones
which for
them
remain
'the norm' of
emotional
commitment and true relation
ships. he electronic
link
is
evaluated
against
the
yardstick of
the
traditional
social
link
which
remains the reference.
On
the other
hand these
practices can be
the
occasion for constructing
micro-com
munities here
Individuals,
confronted
with
urban anonymity and
all-encompas
sing
nomie,
reconstitute
friendships
and
social relations, as Axe's study
on
mess
age ervices shows
(Jouet,
1989).
Social
autonomy
thus
operates on
a
double
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Josiane JOUĚT
82
level;
that
of
the
quest for
the self
shown
by
the
deployment of subjectivity, and
that
of
the quest
for
the other expressed
in
the
search
for
new
social
relationships.
The
collective identity
lies
in the
weaving
of
micro-social
links.
With
the
use of computers, professional
self-management
is based
on the
finality
of personal
production.
But the latter also
corresponds to
a project of investment
in
the
professional
field. Expectations of per
sonal gratification are strong,
whether
this
consists of peer recognition, promot
ion
r
financial
gains.
There is
effectively
self-finalization
of the
action, but
its
origin
and
its rewards
are, in
contrast,
situated in the
social game.
As for computer hacks, they often belong
to a micro-network of informal sociability
where
they meet, share a common com
puter culture and
exchange
advice,
knowledge
and software. As
'asocial'
as it
may
be, this
practice therefore
includes
a
collective
dimension
where
these
individ
ualistic approaches meet around
the
mediation of the
technology.
Moreover,
the
high social value attributed to com
puter-related
activities contributes t
owards
strengthening
the
computer
hack's
image, whatever his
or
her socio-profes-
sional background. The
desire
for
social
recognition is therefore not foreign to i
nvestment in the
technology.
Thus
the
significance
of
the
social
dimens
ions not only to be found in
the
ex
press ion
of
subjectivity or the
display of
social imagination
through
technology; it
can also
be identified
in
the
meaning
attributed to
the
practice. The search for
a social
link is
always
eminently
present
in the
use of new technologies
(Jouet,
1989).
The
individualization
and subject
iveature of
the
use of computer-based
technologies
have
often concealed
the
way
in
which
they
also
produce
a
social
link,
whereas
the
social
dimension of
the
use
of mass media has been amply covered by
research.
Thus studies on
television
have
shown how
viewing often remains a family
activity and provides topics for
conversat
ion
n social life. There
is
evidence
to
suggest
that
this
social
dimension
of
tele
vision is
particularly
marked in the case
of
serials,
be these
programmes
for prime-
time
viewing, like Dallas,
or
soap-operas
broadcast during the day'
(Pasquier,
1991). Furthermore
the
personalized
reading of messages is based
on an inter
pretation
which uses references anchored
in the
cultural
resources of the viewer.
'Interpretation
communities'
govern the
construction
of reception, as is clearly
shown
by
the
different
ways
in
which
Dallas
is
received, and
which
depend on
the
viewers'
ethnic
milieu.
But the
social dimension
of
reception
is
also manifest
on
another level.
D.
Dayan
remarks that reception is
accompanied
by
a participative context
which
refers to the
identity of other members of
the
public
whose status is
imagined:
'Viewing apr
ogramme
means
entering into
'parasocial'
interaction, not
only with
the
seen, but
also
with
the
unseen; it is
recognizing
oneself
as
a
guest*. Television is not there
just for
one to
see; it
is there
for
one to
see
'with'
... If seeing was 'seeing with', such
an
appropriation would lead
to the
potent
ialppearance of new
collective
identi
ties
(Dayan, 1992).
The autonomy of
the
free
and
active'
viewer, put forward by a large
number
of
studies since
the
1970s, should
therefore
not mask his
or
her identity as a
member
of the public. Similarly, the
tendency t
owards
an
individualization of
TV viewing,
accentuated
when
households
are
equipped
with
more
than
one set,
does
not
exclude
its social
dimension based on
representations of collective
participat
ionhysical isolation is not
always
s
ynonymous with social
isolation.
Reception is
an
activity built into
the
so
cial
link.
Thus
the
social mediation
that
governs
the elaboration of communication
prac-
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COMMUNICATIONAND MEDIATION
tices, around traditional media or
com
puter-based technologies, leads to
a so
cial
link
which
combines
the
expression
of
subjectivity
and
attachment
to
the
community.
Interrelationship between the
technological
and social
dimensions
of
usage
The use
of communication devices ap
pears to be a
phenomenon that
is
increas
ingly
tructuring
social
action. This
position
occupied
by
communication in
the
life-styles
of
advanced
industrial
countries cannot be
analysed
as a mere
product of
the
diffusion
and
adoption of
new technologies; it is also
linked
to econ
omic and social changes and to
the
rene
wal
f values
which
produce the
ferment
of social
practices.
Since
the communicat
ionphere is not a
closed field, changes
in
the
use
of
the
media are intimately
linked
to
the
upheavals
of
society
as
a
whole.
User
representations
similarly
attest to
current changes. Their
discourse
is built
on
references
to
values of
the technologi
c l
aradigm and to
the referential
and
symbolic framework of 'modern'
society
which does not
seem to have disappeared
entirely.
Technological
and
social change
are therefore interrelated and communic
ation
ractices are situated at
the
point
at which
they converge.
Life-styles
Communication
tools
have
today become
inseparable from daily activities. Rising
living standards and increased
free time
have
contributed
to mass
ownership of
communication devices and to
the
deve
lopment of highly diversified spare-time
and
communication practices.
A
recent
survey
on
media
use
shows
that
French
people spend
nearly a
quarter of their
time
at home
(sleep included) on com
munication
activities.*
Television remains
the
main
form of
entertainment
and
is
constantly increasing, with
the
average
viewing-time
now being three hours per
day.
But an
INSEE [Institut national de la
statistique et des
études
économiques)
survey
on
'leisure' (Arnal, Dumontier
Jouet,
1989),
also
shows
that
micro-comp
uters
or example, are in constant use
and interpersonal
communication by
means of
the
telephone has become a
daily
practice.
Computer-based technologies thus
undergird the role
of
the
home as
the
centre of leisure-time and
information
ac
tivities through the use of radio and
tele
vision, and extend interpersonal
long
distance communication
by telephone.
Access to information and communicat
ionrom
home
is being broadened, by
the
videotext, to the consultation
of
data
banks and
the
carrying out of many dif
ferent
types
of
inquiries
and
transactions.
These developments confirm
the
growing
role of home-based technology in
the
evol
ution
of
lifestyles.
Interaction
with communication tools
embraces
all
spheres
of activity:
leisure,
work, services,
social
life. The entry of
computer-based technologies into lif
estyles is partly
seen in the changed
rela
tions of
the
public and private spheres,
and
in
the
emergence
of
a
new
temporal
and
spatial dimension
of action.
The
pro
fessional
use
of computers at home,
which blurs
the
division between
work
and leisure
(Bidou,
Guillaume
Prévost,
1988),
clearly illustrates
the
erosion of
borders between
the
public and private
spheres.
Furthermore, with
the videotext,
a
great
deal of
information and
many
transactions of a public nature are
enter
ing
nto homes to be
used
for
professional
and
domestic
purposes.
In contrast,
conv
ivial message services are
breaking
up
* Charpin, Forsé,
Périn,
1989. Survey
on
television,
VCRs,
radio, press, books, music, telephone,
Minitel
and
microcomputers.
83
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Josiane
JOUĚT
84
the
private
sphere and
making public
the
most intimate fantasies. This
evolution
is,
moreover, found
throughout
the entire
media
system.
The
advent
of
an
informal
type of television is
thus
accompanied by
a profusion
of
programmes
where
individ
ualsalk about themselves
and
their
most
intimate emotions. Events from private
life
similarly
provide
material
for reality
show
scenarios.
This intermingling of different spheres is
also
seen in the use
of portable technol
ogies
uch
as
the
walkman
(Kouloumd-
jian,
1985),
or
mobiles,
i.e. pocket
or
car
telephones
(Combes Sammer, 1992; de
Gournay, 1992).
Research
has shown
how
the
use of
these technologies
is
at
the
intersection of
both
the public and private
spheres.
Nomadic communication frees
individuals from
the
constraints of a set
place. Furthermore,
remote control de
vices
are used
to
operate domestic ap
pliances
such as heating and security. On
the
other
hand,
the
videotext
and
micro
computer make
it
possible
to carry out
certain operations from
home.
There is
therefore a dual spatial movement of
the
private
world into
the public
sphere,
and
access
to the
public
sphere
from home.
The
breaking
up of spatial boundaries is
echoed in that
of temporal
ones. Comp
uter-based
technologies
produce a
new
temporality since it is possible to access
a
network
at any
moment.
Interpersonal
communication, whether direct or
deferred, is becoming
frozen
by means of
answering
machines and
electronic
(Jouet
Toussaint,
1991).
Social
action
is freed from time constraints
(opening
hours of services, unavailability of corre
spondents) for it
is henceforth possible
when and where required. Similarly,
with
the
extension of TV times, viewers have
access to
programmes at any
time of the
day
or
night.
The
show
is
becoming
con
tinuous.
* Survey
carried
out by Canon, in France,
informatique,
21 May 1992.
The development of
the
media, new
and
old,
therefore leads
to
an extension of
frameworks of action. In many ways,
communication
tools influence
common
references of
time
and
space
and struc
ture
aily
life.
These changes
concretely influence
lif
estyles but
should
not lead
us to
a
mech
anistic interpretation
whereby
communication technologies
become the
causal
factor. They
are
closely
linked to
current changes
in the
productive sector
and private
sphere,
for
transformations
to
economic
and social
structures
affect
work, leisure and social and family rela
tions.
Amongst
these
changes,
the
evolution
of
structures
of production seems pivotal.
The decline
in
industrial
jobs together
with
the
increase in
the
tertiary sector
favour the use of communication
technol
ogies oth at work
and
at home.
Accord
ingo a recent survey,
30
per
cent
of the
working
population works
off-site
at least
part of the
time.*
The
validity of
these
results must be treated with caution, but
they nevertheless
point
to a tendency.
Furthermore, job insecurity and incen
tives o
small enterprises
encourage inde
pendent
work.
There has been a considerable
in
crease in people becoming self-em
ployed; better
qualified executives,
students
or
young
people
with all
types
of
qualifications
...
In all,
it
is
estimated
that
between 1980 and
1985, over half a
million people be
came self-employed, a
third
more
than
during
the
period from
1965
to
1970' (Seibel, 1991).
For these people
working
independently,
often with limited resources, their homes
are generally used as an office and are
equipped
with various communication
devices
(videotext,
answering machine,
fax) whilst
the
mobile telephone makes it
with
500 respondents, quoted In
Les
Echos
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COMMUNICATION AND MEDIATION
possible to move
about
and
remain
avail
able. New
values
and 'the
taste for auton
omy are
becoming prevalent in the
professional
world,
as
Jean-Daniel
Rey-
naud noted:
'In both inter-individual
and
group relationships,
autonomy
is
the
key
word (Reynaud, 1981).
The
spirit of ind
ividual enterprise is becoming
a
recognized value, and personal success is
an essential
motivation. The reappear
ancef
economic
liberalism is accompan
iedy admiration for
the image of the
entrepreneur,
the
self-made man and
personal effort, as
Alain Ehrenberg
shows
in
his
book 'Le
culte
de
la
performance'
(Ehrenberg,
1991).
The
use
of
micro-com
putersnd remote communication tech
nologies
provides
the
autonomy
needed to
satisfy
aspirations
for independence and
professional
performance.
Finally,
transformations
in the
structure
of
households
also favour the
adoption
of
communication
technologies.
The
marked increase in small,
single-parent
homes
continues.
According
to
Claude
Seibel, five million
people
live alone today,
of whom a
considerable
percentage is el
der ly .
But
the same
author
notes 'the
increasing fragility of relationships and
more
significantly
as it affects couples
(whether married or not) which leads to a
growing
number
of small households'
(Seibel, 1991).
The break-up
of families,
like geographical
mobility
due to employ
ment
roblems,
are all
factors
which con
tribute
to
the
increase
in
practices
linking
individuals
to
their environment. Many
adepts of
convivial
message services
ex
plain
their hobby
by the
break-up
of the
home,
loneliness and
the
search for a
social link.
Abundant literature on the subject shows
that since the
1970s
traditional struc
tures of belonging
have been
weakened
and strong beliefs which constituted
the
bedrock
of
modem
societies,
their
symb
olic
references, are
disintegrating.
These
upheavals
are partly seen
in
the
elabora
tion
f
new social
relations.
The
ing of ideologies is
accompanied
by a
focus on
individual
happiness, on leisure
and even a new hedonism. The erosion of
traditional
frameworks
of
reference is
completed
by the
emergence
of the
indi
vidual
who becomes his own
finality, and
by immersion
in subjectivity (Lipovetsky,
1983). The
importance
of self-realization
results
in the
cult of
the
ego
and
some
times
narcissism. But
we are also wit
nessing
the
birth
of
a
'new psychological
culture',
according
to
Robert
Cas
el,
which is
opening
this
culture of self-
advancement to
the
search for
new
forms
of
otherness:
A
great relational
dream arches
over it: contacts, encounters, group
life,
networks, conviviality,
inte
rchange ... this
means that,
even
if it
fails to
become a
society,
it effec
tively
exists as an intention of sociab
ility, and not only as
overwhelming
intimacy'
(Castel,
1981).
Thus
the
subjective
approaches
which
are
woven around the use
of
communication
tools
are expressed in
a wish for
personal
accomplishment; but they are often ac
companied as we
have seen,
by the
search
for,
or
the
formation of,
new
forms
of
social interchange.
The
processes
underway are however
shaped by multiple contradictions
and
do
not constitute a
linear
and homogeneous
evolution.
Changes
are
accompanied
by
resistance and
the
structures
of tradi
tional society, although weakened,
have
not disappeared. Values
are
dispersed
be
tween former beliefs - which, in spite of
everything, persist
- and attachment to
the
new creed
of
the
emancipation
of
the
individual.
Discourse
User
discourse
is
consistent
with
com
munication practices. It attests to
repre
sentations
which are connected,
on the
one hand, to social discourse
on
modern-
85
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Josiane JOUĚT
86
ity, and rooted, on the other
hand,
in the
concrete experience of
communication
technologies.
Representational
modes
are
forged
through the confrontation of the individ
ualith
the
technical peculiarities
and
the
actual usage of
the communicational
tools.
Individuals'
statements
on
their
ac
tual
use
of
machines reveal
their relation
shipsith objects. They are
expressed
in
a language which
is often sprinkled
with
technical
terms
specific
to the
tools
used,
but also
with
their own
terms
which re
veal
the
peculiar
forms
of
their
negotia
tionith these tools. They show
the forms
of appropriation of
the
object. The com
municational experience is
always
a
ccompanied
by a representation
of the
technology,
peculiar to
each individual
and his or her
practice.
The socio-linguistic approach also em
phasizes
the
importance
of discourse.
Louis Quéré,
whose
theoretical
frame
work
s
that
of
a
co-belonging
of
practices
and
technical objects,
based
on
an
inter
nal-type
connection,
stresses the import
ancef discursive entities.
He
shows how
communication
practices
are based not
only
on
practical skills, but
on the
'...
mastery of a language, that is of
a
conceptual network,
a
vocabul
ary system of categorization and
of criteria for distinction,
evaluation
and hierarchical
arrangement,
which
enable
us
to
organize
the
field
of communication and account for
our practices.
This
language
is
not
first
and foremost
representative
or
descriptive; it is constituent. It is
not
only
used to categorize, name
and report accurately what
we
do;
it
articulates
our practices, provides
them with depth and with an hori
zon,
justifies them and
gives
them
a character
of desirability'
(Quéré,
1992).
But the
discourse of users also shows how
they perceive
the
insertion of
cation
tools
into their
lifestyles.
It
reveals
the role
they
attribute to
these
objects in
their spare-time
activities,
their
daily
tasks,
their
social
lives
or
their work,
and
is therefore a statement of values, ideals
and symbols which reveal
the
internal
meaning of
practices.
On another level, user discourse also ex
presses
expectations
and disappoint
mentsith respect
to
these objects,
and
brings
into play a conception of
the
possib
ilities and limits of
the
technology. Rep
resentations
therefore draw
upon
a set of
beliefs
and
values
which
link
the
pract
ices. In surveys
this
discourse bears wit
ness to the split of referents
between
attachment
to
values of technical ideology
on
the
one
hand,
and
the
persistence of
traditional values of
Western humanism
on the
other. Communication
tools,
and
particularly
computer-based
technol
ogies,
convey
the
symbols of modernity
and
progress which
accompany
their
dif
fusion
in
society (Scardigli,
1992). We are
moreover
witnessing
the
emergence
of
a
communication ideology around values of
transparency and
social
interchange,
analysed
by
Serge
Proulx and
Philippe
Breton
(Breton Proulx,
1989), which
is
used by all social agents. Communication
objects are not
neutral
but related to
a
social
conception,
which impregnates
col
lective representations.
User
discourse
does
include
in
more
ways
than
one the
creed
of technology as
a
source
of scientific and
social
progress,
and
as a means of
overcoming the
econ
omic
crisis. Users
state their
belief in
the
omnipotence
of
technological advances
which,
they believe,
correspond to
a
universal,
and in
any
case
irreversible,
movement. The Ideology of a technological
paradigm
is
indeed present
and confirms
Philippe
Roqueplo's
theory:
...in that it is
an
apology
for
science,
a
builder
of
our
environment,
an arsenal of models of
re
ality
and
principles
ustifying
the
division
of work, technology exercises in our civi-
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COMMUN ICATION AND MEDIATION
lization
a fundamental ideological funct
ion (Roqueplo, 1983).
But
this
ideological
halo
which
fulfils
a
reasuring function is nevertheless called
into question by
the
pre-eminence of
traditional humanist values.
User
dis
course expresses
the
consciousness of
risks involved in
the
growing expansion of
technologies. The
basic values of
modern
society
seem to
them
to be
threatened by
the
dehumanization produced by subjec
tion
o
technical
efficiency, the
isolation
of
individuals
withdrawn behind their
do
mestic
machines,
the
replacement
of
the
human interface
by
man-machine dia
logue,
the
pre-eminence of technical
ra
tionality
over
the
value of intuition and
common
sense, and the dangers of
social
control by machines.
The image of
the future connected
to com
puter technology is furthermore
associ
ated ith
that of radical
social upheaval.
Social
representations
of new techniques
incorporate
the
perception
of
an
upheaval
throughout society. The
technological
ideology coexists with
the
pre-eminence
of
a social conscience grafted
onto the
normative framework of
modern society.
Practices are thus accompanied by a so
cial reflexivity and
discourse
is loaded
with
an
ambivalence
in
which
the
interre
lationbetween
the
technical and
the
so
cial
can
be seen.
The result
is
cross-
fertilization
between
the
technical creed
and
values
of
modern
humanism.
Return to mediation
Various theoretical models
have
at
tempted to identify the
relationship
be
tween technology and society. The
anthropology of the
sciences denies
'the
great divide'
between
scientific
discoveries
and
social processes. M.Callon
and
B.
La-
tour
develop
the
model
of
translation
and
analyse
the
series of alliances which are
formed between human and non-human
actors (Callon, 1981). In his historical
approach,
P.Flichy
also tries to go beyond
this
dichotomy:
'When
we
follow the
course
of
inno
vation, we
note that
there
is no clear
cut
between
the
technical
and the
social construction
of an object
...
technology and
usage
evolve.
This
construction
is
collective.,
it takes
shape
through the dispersal of the
technical object'
(Flichy, 1991).
The study
of communication practices is
not situated
on the
level of technological
invention
alone,
nor
does
it
dispense
with
the
necessity
to carry
out a
retrospective
analysis of
the uses
of
communication
over
long
periods. It observes
the
social
implementation of communication tech
nologies in situ and shows that
the
incur-
sion of technical order into the
communication process
does not
necessa
rilyxclude the
social contents of action.
Computer-based technologies initiate
new
types
of behaviour with regard
to
communication
tools,
and
these
affect
even
the broadcasting media.
Since
the
mediation of
technical
objects is not neut
ral t results in
the
action itself becoming
technical. This can
be identified in
all
the
ordinary
activities carried out by means
of
digital technologies.
It is shown by
cognitive
structures
and the elaboration
of new
ways
of doing
things,
including
the
most unspecialized uses. The rationality
of
the
technology
structures
the
practice
which
in turn
adopts
the
performance
values of
the
object.
On
the other
hand,
the
incorporation of
technical skill is accompanied by a multip
licity of practices and
gives
rise to subj
ectivity. The co-existence of
operational
rationality and personalization seems
common
to the various uses of old and
new
media.
Even so called 'rational*
usage, like that of computers, is not de
void
of
subjectivity.
According
to
L.
Quéré
it bears witness to the
correlation intr
oduced by
the
technological society
be
tween subjectivity and technicality.
87
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Josiane
JOUĚT
Technological mediation
henceforth re
places
mediation by
the cognitive and
normative otherness of modern society:
'In the
technical
society
only
the
mediat
ionf
technology
remains
(machines and
formalized procedures)'.
We witness
the
emergence of
the
'operative subject' and
the
representation
crisis is
shown
by
'the
end of mediation by an objective
third
parly allowing for
the formation
of moti
vation and
orientation
of action' and by
'the
'subjectivation' of social action'
(Quéré,
1982).
The emergence
of
subjectivity
cannot
however be generated by technological
mediation alone; it is part of social
change, of
the
lack of social values, norms
and references,
which
opens the
way
to
the
search for
self. But
practices also
show,
including
in
the
most individual
approaches,
the
wish
to redefine the indi
vidual s
relationship
with society; prac
tices
are penetrated by social influences
and the latter
often constitute a
frame
work
of
reference
for
the
motivations
and
desires which fill actions
with their
dy
namism.
Even though actions are char
acterized
by
subjectivity, the
regulating
frameworks of action are situated in
so
ciety. Subjectivity is generated by
social
interaction.
Similarly,
the
ways
in
which communicat
ion
ools
and life-styles act
together,
like
the ambivalence of
discursive referents,
reveal
the
complexity
of
the
dynamics
between
communication technologies
and
social action.
Although communication
technologies
play
an
organizing
role in
social product
ion
here is at
the
same time a socializ
ation
f
these
tools which
shapes
them.
Faced with
the technical model,
society
reacts
and manifests itself through inno
vating
practices, which
in turn
act
on the
socio-technical
set-up. Faced with
the
so
cietal model, technology shows
its
hold
over modes of action.
The construction
of
social
use
of these technologies is
based
on complex
processes
in which
technol
ogical and
social
innovation meet.
This
results in
a dialectic relationship between
these
two
poles
which,
because
of
the
newness of
the
practices, remains
largely
unknown. It does however open a
particul
arlyromising field for research'
(Jouet,
1993).
Communication practices provide
social
material suited to observation for a
ttempting to
identify
the
relationship
be
tween
the technological
and social
dimensions.
They are
situated
at
the
heart
of
this
encounter
and
are,
in
a
sense, the
product
of
it. Although
the
resulting synergy arises from highly
com
plex and opaque phenomena which
defy
the
construction
of a global
explicative
model,
sociological
observation
and anal
ysis do
make
it
possible
to identify
the
indicators
and
relevant features which
reveal the
way
in
which
communication
practices
are constructed
around the
dual
mediation of 'the technical'
and 'the
so
cial .
88
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