Approaching digital futures: why media and communication research needs to move from a perspective of consequence to one of emergence

This article aims to foster the systematic integration of “digital futures” into media and communication research. The concept of “digital futures” encompasses all imaginations of possible futures that envision a social world in which, first, digital media and their infrastructures play a constitutive role in constructing sociality, and second, these media are seen as primary drivers of societal transformation. A scientific engagement with digital futures should be integral to a media and communication research approach focused on “emergence.” This requires broadening our perspective on media-related transformations, which have predominantly been characterized through a focus on “consequences.” To date, research has largely focused on the effects and impacts of established media and their infrastructures. However, by expanding our view to include emergence, we inevitably confront questions about the future—an essential dimension of human agency, inherently tied to our capacity to project possible futures.