Download full text
(external source)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://doi.org/10.22059/jcss.2020.74780
Exports for your reference manager
Social Anomia against the Backdrop of Misinformation/ Disinformation: a Cognitive Approach to the Multivalent Data in Cyberspace
[journal article]
Abstract The present study is an attempt to problematize the multivalent data in the cyberspace through the lenses of Wittgenstein’s analytic philosophy of language. Adopting this linguistic philosophy approach is aimed at exploring the dichotomous question of whether cyberspace is a possibility for social p... view more
The present study is an attempt to problematize the multivalent data in the cyberspace through the lenses of Wittgenstein’s analytic philosophy of language. Adopting this linguistic philosophy approach is aimed at exploring the dichotomous question of whether cyberspace is a possibility for social power or it is a contributory cause of communicative discontinuity and henceforth a possibility for social anomia. The central argument here is that within cyberspace there exist three languages at work each one with a degree of semiotic power: pictorial, verbal and mathematical. Since none of them is based on a one-to-one correspondence between the signifiers and the signifieds, the cyberspace users in practice are led to misinformation and disinformation instead of information. This situation creates an epistemic chasm in their real life. This is because their finite mind is not able to grasp the infinite reality of the cyberspace multivalent data. Accordingly, cyberspace with its abundance of misinformation and disinformation leads us to a mental disorder. This constitutes the real power of social media in creating a socio-political turmoil and anomia.... view less
Keywords
Internet; social media; data; Wittgenstein, L.; information; disinformation; philosophy of language
Classification
Interactive, electronic Media
Sociology of Communication, Sociology of Language, Sociolinguistics
Free Keywords
anomic situation; misinformation; multivalent data
Document language
English
Publication Year
2020
Page/Pages
p. 65-68
Journal
Journal of Cyberspace Studies, 4 (2020) 1
ISSN
2588-5502
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed