Networks, Society, and Polis: Epistemological Approaches on Mediatization

237 Digital social networks and relation systems José Luiz Braga 1 Abstract: The article proposes that research on digital social networks requires both attention to diversity of experiences and the study of broad processes. This implies an analysis referring to singular cases, seeking, however, dimensions of variation to link them to diversity. It suggests putting more emphasis on the social relations systems developed through networks than on the materiality of technologies. It considers that the difficulty in grasping the logics of networks is due, rather than to the diversity of experiences, to the fact that they have not yet developed stabilized standards – having no defined rules as a whole. It proposes an investigation into the urgencies that stimulate social experimentation and current strategies that seek potential logics for the future. Keywords: Digital networks; Interaction systems; Codes and Inferences; Mediatization. I – The question The question that arises for our reflection, in this text, is to propose research angles on the object “digital social net - works” that can keep the attention on the diversity of experienc- es, processes, problems and logics of operation, avoiding, how- ever, that this necessary analysis of cases and episodes leads to dispersion of knowledge or descriptive empiricism. In the 1 Full Professor at PPG in Communication Sciences, UNISINOS. E-mail: jbraga@ unisinos.br.