Mediatization is a concept that refers to the profound transformation of the functioning of social institutions and the everyday lives of individuals by media technologies and communication practices in modern societies. Originally derived from the German term Mediatisierung, this concept approaches the relationship between media and society not merely at the level of content or influence, but as a much deeper and structural transformation. Mediatization signifies the increasing alignment of fields such as politics, religion, education, and culture with the logic of media, and the shaping of decision-making processes around visibility and representation.

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The Emergence of the Approach and Its Theoretical Foundations

The mediatization approach emerged in the late 1990s as a theoretical necessity within the historical development of media studies. For a long time, traditional media research followed three main axes: the analysis of media texts, the political-economic examination of production processes, and studies on audience reception. However, these approaches increasingly failed to explain the extensive impact of media on social structures. Especially with the acceleration of digitalization, media ceased to be merely a vehicle for content; it became a structural element that directly influences everyday life, institutions, and cultural patterns. At this point, the concept of mediatization was introduced to account for this multilayered transformation.

Theoretically, the mediatization approach has been shaped through the convergence of different traditions. According to the approach pioneered by Friedrich Krotz, mediatization should be considered a meta-process in which media change evolves in tandem with everyday life. Andreas Hepp interprets this process as a restructuring in which cultural formations and social institutions are compelled to adapt to the logic of media. Nick Couldry’s contribution emphasizes the need to think about media influence not only at the level of content, but also in terms of how the media order shapes social reality. Within this framework, mediatization is not merely a process of communication, but the media-centered reconstruction of social experience. The theoretical roots of this approach can be traced back to Roger Silverstone’s concept of mediation, Jürgen Habermas’s theory of communicative action, and Michel Foucault’s understanding of power and diffuse network structures.

Mediatized Culture and Everyday Life

Mediatization creates a transformative impact not only at the institutional level but also on individuals’ daily practices, identity construction, and cultural meaning systems. Today ,the media has become a fundamental social environment that directly shapes how individuals perceive the world, relate to others, and express themselves. According to Andreas Hepp, culture is no longer defined merely by patterns of production and consumption, but by realities indirectly experienced through media. Consequently, cultural life is reconstructed through the models, representations, and aesthetic forms presented by the media.

The mediatization of everyday life manifests itself in many dimensions—from time management to social relationships. The transformation of social media platforms into the primary medium of daily communication, and the emergence of criteria like “follower count” or “like rate” as determinants of social identity are clear indicators of how media culture transforms subjective experience. According to Krotz, media is no longer merely a tool; it is a framework that organizes life itself: areas such as time spent at home, work relationships, and intra-family communication have all been reshaped in accordance with the rhythm of media technologies.

This transformation also produces a tense space between cultural homogenization and practices of critical thinking. Hepp emphasizes that media culture is omnipresent but too multilayered to be reduced to a singular mass culture. Mediatized culture is shaped by the complex communication mechanisms born from the interaction of various media tools. In this respect, media culture constructs the individual’s perception of reality not only through information dissemination but also through framing and directional shaping techniques.