Mediatized Connectivity: Historical Traits of Telephony and Theoretical Considerations about a New Dispositive of Communication

We are currently witnessing a process of mediatization which is, in turn, establishing a new dispositive of communication. Emerging out of the realm of mobile communication, techno-cultural developments have laid the foundation for a new status of ‘perpetual contact’ (Katz and Aakhus, 2002, p. 2), which is now on its way to a further extension as processes of convergence between the fields of mobile communication, the global infrastructure of the internet and additional applications of ubiquitous computing are setting new frameworks for communication. Today, we find the individual embedded within a structure of permanent connectivity, which on the one hand offers new chances for participation in media and communication structures, but on the other hand carries implied constraints and risks within a new communication structure that we can identify as a dispositive of ‘mediatized connectivity’.