Framing Disputes In the Digital Age

Digital technologies have become central to contemporary communicative life, reshaping the ways in which individuals access, produce, and interpret information about social reality. In this context, media framing emerges as a key analytical dimension for the development of Digital Sociology. The construction and circulation of frames now occur within an increasingly dense media environment, characterized by permanent connectivity and the widespread diffusion of digital technologies. These transformations have expanded the capacity of social actors to participate in processes of media production, challenging traditional boundaries between producers and audiences and contributing to a more fragmented and dynamic communicative ecosystem.

In a context shaped by digital interactivity, media frames are produced within different social groups and circulated by interest groups, social movements, organizations, and political actors. Legacy media, once central social intermediaries, are increasingly becoming one of several sources of media content in a more fragmented communicational environment. Communicational disputes become more complex and dynamic, anchored in the commercial logic of digital platforms, mediated by a new sociotechnical infrastructure and by a media culture inherent to it.

This session welcomes contributions that examine the construction, circulation, and contestation of media frames in contemporary societies. We encourage submissions employing qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods approaches and addressing diverse national or transnational contexts. Relevant topics include political disputes in the public sphere, misinformation and disinformation, environmental and climate issues, public health communication, science communication, social movements and collective action and cultural conflicts and identity politics.