Navigating the Hypermedia Landscape: Political, Cultural, and Social Transformations

Digital media has reshaped the ways individuals and communities participate in political and civic life, profoundly transforming the fields of political science and sociology. In the contemporary post-truth era, the rise of hypermedia has intersected with the dynamics of pop culture, communication, identity, and social behaviors, further influencing how people experience and engage with the world.

Redefining citizen participation, voter behavior, and identity-driven political involvement, these transformations affect both communication strategies and the intricacies of political engagement and civic participation. They challenge conventional paradigms and demand new investigative lenses. Recent literature underscores the need for a deeper understanding of how digital platforms and media discourses shape participatory dynamics and civic identities in contemporary societies. This Research Topic aims to explore the evolving interactions between citizens, political leaders, and institutions, as well as how digital transformation is influencing political participation and civic engagement. By analyzing emerging forms of online mobilization, activism, and identity-based political behaviors, this article collection seeks to understand the transformative influence of digital media on participatory dynamics. Themes of interest include fan-based political engagement, the mediatization of leadership, and the reconfiguration of civic identity, particularly in digital spaces where traditional boundaries are constantly shifting.

In social dynamics, the same transformations are reshaping personal and social identity, self-presentation, interpersonal communication, consumption behavior, and lifestyles. Digitalization has introduced new behavioral models and values—such as publicly sharing one’s life via social media—overturning notions of privacy and intimacy, and often pushing toward greater narcissism, idealized personas, or, conversely, hyper-realistic narratives of social life. At the same time, this evolution has led to phenomena such as the mediatized transformation of personality and forms of technological dependence, with negative implications for mental and physical health, as well as unexpected consequences including loneliness, cyberbullying, and social revenge actions. Digital technologies and social media have also transformed the dynamics of narration and self-presentation, enabling individuals to create narratives reminiscent of professional athletes and celebrities. Sport itself is undergoing a similar transformation, shifting its essence toward new communicative frontiers and collective imaginaries. Furthermore, media transformation has opened infinite possibilities for exploring new interests, although it has also reduced engagement in traditional activities in favor of virtual experiences, such as online gaming, excessive social media use, e-sports, and phenomena of social withdrawal.

The scope of this Research Topic encompasses a wide range of themes related to hypermedia and its impact on the political, sociological, and cultural landscape. By focusing on the implications of transformation in a hypermediated society, this topic welcomes interdisciplinary contributions that critically assess the intersection of hypermedia and political engagement, transformations in political and social communication, sociological consequences, and changes in sociocultural dynamics.

Specifically, we welcome articles on:

• the role of hypermedia in reshaping political participation and activism
• the impact of digital media on political leadership and citizen–leader relationships
• fan-based political dynamics and their implications for civic participation
• the intersection of hypermedia with identity-based political involvement and digital advocacy
• online mobilization and grassroots movements facilitated by social platforms
• new communicative approaches to political leadership as celebrity and star
• nostalgia, memory (and amnesia), and social media: how does the past become the future?
• the starization of individuals and collective behaviors in mediated communication, consumption, and sports
• new narrative and self-narrative communicative forms emerging through hypermediated transformations of individuals and groups
• the history of 'pop' ideas: from artistic communication to digital public communication
• digital technologies (e.g., sensors, wearables, “double data body,” social media) and the representation/transformation of individual sports.

This Research Topic encourages submissions that foster a deeper understanding of how digital transformations shape contemporary political communication, participatory behaviors, civic identities, and democratic processes, as well as changes in social values and behaviors. We invite analyses of how these transformations impact personal identities and interpersonal relationships, as well as broader sociocultural processes and the dynamics of leisure, consumption, and sports. Articles should explore these themes within the framework of contemporary digital transformations and adopt an interdisciplinary approach that enriches both political science and sociology. Contributions may include original research, reviews, and theoretical or methodological advances.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Hypermedia transformation, political leadership, digital media, political participation, identity and fandom, post-ideological communication

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.