Global Governance and ICTs: Exploring online governance networks around Gender and Media

In this article, we address transformations in global governance brought about by information and communication technologies (ICTs). Focusing on the specific domain of “gender-oriented communication governance” we investigate online interactions amongst different kinds of actors active in promoting gender equity in and through the media. By tracing and analyzing online issue networks, we investigate which actors are capable of influencing the framing of issues and of structuring discursive practices. From the analysis, different forms of power emerge, reflecting diverse modes of engaging in online interactions, where actors can operate as network ‘programmers’, ‘mobilizers’, or ‘switchers’. Our case study suggests that, often, old ways of conceiving actors’ interactions accompany the implementation of new communication tools; while the availability of a pervasive networked infrastructure does not automatically translate into meaningful interactions amongst all relevant actors in a specific domain.