Round pegs in square holes: Is mass communication theory a useful tool in conducting internet research?

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the theories of mass communication and on how they have been used over the last decades to conceptualize, describe, and measure Internet communication in a mass communication frame. The meta-analyses in the chapter illustrate the general lack of theory in the communication field as revealed in its publications, the lack of agreement on the important theories on which to build empirical studies, and the borrowing of theory from outside the field. The chapter continues the tradition of meta-analysis of communication research by studying the first decade of the twenty-first century in new media research, to help understand whether the Internet has been considered a mass medium and which theories have been most relied upon in the theoretical work published in the most prominent communication journals that generally focus on mass communication research. © 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.