Post-Postmodernism: Automodernity and Its Relevance to Understanding Contemporary Media Audiences

The current paper aims to review the most relevant currents of thought in studying mass-media audiences and connect them with the concept of “automodernity,” as developed by Robert Samuels in his book New Media, Cultural Studies and Critical Theory after Postmodernism. The first section of the paper provides an analysis of the evolution registered in the field of audience studies, from regarding audiences as a vulnerable crowd of media recipients to viewing them as empowered groups of media consumers, who are able to select and intervene inside the media products they prefer. From the surfacing of audience studies research in the 1940s and the development of the “hypodermic needle” theory to the contemporary theories regarding active audiences, the first section of the paper observes how the field progressed over time. Building on these ideas, the second section introduces the concept of “automodernity,” used by Robert Samuels to describe Western culture after postmodernism, and explores its relevance to understanding contemporary media audiences.