Consequences of Social Listening via Mediated Communication Technologies (MCTs)

As mediated communication technologies, or MCTs, are increasingly used to interact, consequences across levels of communication arise. The social listening process using MCTs has positive and negative implications. The process of social listening exists within four levels of communication. The pervasiveness and determinism of MCTs and their impact on communication and social listening are supported by existing and developing research, practical examples, and theoretical frameworks. This critical review of literature discusses potential consequences of social listening via MCTs. These findings (1) demonstrate alignment among levels of communication, relevant theories, and resulting social consequences, such as big data and mediated deception, and (2) support exploratory research investigating mediated deception, which may contribute towards future studies of social listening and MCTs. In closing, a matrix to visualize the communication contexts, theories, and social consequences related to social listening via MCTs is presented.