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

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context collapse

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

We were already conditioned for a context collapse by social media, a blurring of our personal and professional lives in mediated spaces like Facebook.

From Slate ● Feb. 27, 2023

If you say the wrong thing and there is context collapse around your tweet, you might lose your job because the Beyhive is mad at you.

From The Verge ● Jun. 14, 2022

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

They’ve ushered in a kind of context collapse whose effects it will likely take decades to fully understand.

From Slate ● Dec. 27, 2018