This book has been written with the aim of demonstrating that communication is too complex, multi-layered, and socially constitutive to be reduced merely to the transmission of information. Approaching the core issues of communication sociology such as power, representation, normative structure, affect, surveillance, and inequality through contemporary theoretical perspectives and critical analyses, this study is the product of an interdisciplinary effort to understand the communication architecture of the digital age.

The fundamental organizational structures of modern societies are no longer limited to economic or political systems; they now also operate through platform architectures, algorithmic preference systems, and regimes of visibility. In this context, communication has transformed into a field of power that not only reflects society but also constitutes, shapes, and normatively frames it. Therefore, analyzing communication ultimately means reinterpreting society itself its boundaries, power relations, and fields of conflict.

This book consists of five chapters.

The first chapter discusses communication as a social act, addressing its historical and theoretical contexts, and demonstrates how communicative reason plays a central role in the production of social order.

The second chapter explores the symbolic power mechanisms of the media field, showing through Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical framework that the media is not merely a content carrier, but also a producer of cultural hegemony.

The third chapter examines how digital surveillance mechanisms structure not only individual privacy but also relations of social class, participation, and visibility.

The fourth chapter analyzes the construction of gender within communication practices, focusing on crises of representation and struggle areas such as digital feminism.

The fifth and final chapter investigates how digital norms and algorithmic affective regimes govern individual identity, existence, and modes of expression.

This book, while being an academic work, also claims to critically discuss all of its topics in a holistic manner. It is written with a sociological sensitivity that not only seeks to explain what is, but also invites reflection on what ought to be. Each chapter emphasizes that today’s communication systems are shaped not only by technology, but also by ideology, social norms, emotions, and power structures.

I would like to thank the academic communities that contributed to the emergence of this work, the theoretical traditions that served as sources of intellectual inspiration, my family who have always kept the possibilities of critical inquiry alive and especially my late and beloved mother, who planted the seeds of critical thinking in me at a young age. I hope this book offers a new ground for reflection for all those who see communication not as a mere instrumental process, but as a contested space embedded at the heart of society.

Sivas, 2025