Semantic Media: Mapping Meaning on the Internet

Media technologies now provide facts, answers, and “knowledge” to people – search engines, apps, and virtual assistants increasingly articulate responses rather than direct people to other sources. 

 Semantic Media is about this emerging era of meaning-making technologies. Companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft organize information in new media products that seek to “intuitively” grasp what people want to know and the actions they want to take. This book describes some of the insidious technological practices through which organizations achieve this while addressing the changing contexts of internet searches, and examines the social and political consequences of what happens when large companies become primary sources of information.

Written in an accessible style, Semantic Media will be of interest to students and scholars in media, science and technology, communication, and internet studies, as well as professionals wanting to learn more about the changing dynamics of contemporary data practices.

Andrew Iliadis is Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies and Production at Temple University.