context collapse

American  

[kahn-tekst kuh-laps] / ˈkɑn tɛkst kəˈlæps /

noun

1. Sociology. a process observed in television and internet communication, in which a message intended for a specific audience in a specific context is accessed by members of other audiences unfamiliar with that context, resulting in misunderstanding or rejection of the message.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

context collapse

The effect of clipping is context collapse maximized to further a hasty impression of a vaguely famous person.

From Slate ● May 6, 2026

A problem that social networks have is context collapse, which is basically you get millions of people together in a space where everyone has different levels of understanding, different politics, different beliefs.

From New York Times ● May 5, 2023

If Nothing at Facebook is Someone Else’s Problem then the problem of widespread context collapse belongs to all of us.

From The Verge ● Nov. 16, 2021

But the high potential for context collapse, in which videos are served to users beyond the originally intended audience, can lead to creators getting gun-shy.

From New York Times ● Jul. 8, 2021

The result is a kind of aesthetic context collapse.

From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2020

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