Technisch generalisierte Kommunikationsmedien. Kommunikation im Medium der Adresslisten

From a system-theory perspective, the form of address list based communication, as made possible by the Internet – often categorized under “social media” or “social networks” – is analyzed. Examples of address-list based communication are online dating services, online social networking sites such as Facebook, networking sites for the business community, travel networking sites, etc. The paper theorizes how address-lists as media represent a technologically supported possibility to cope with the problem of double contingency in terms of initiative and stabilization of interaction systems. The paper addresses, as a case example, the advantages (hopefulness) and the disadvantages (disappointments) of address-list based communication in the initiation of love or romantic relationships. Thus, it shows that the problem of initiative can be overcome, but address list communication creates problems for the continuity or stability of interaction systems within love as a symbolically generalized medium of communication. Last, but not least, it shows that address lists increase the importance of reputation-oriented communication.