ABSTRACT
During the 20th century, there were two communication revolutions. The first was a revolution in communication technologies, including the telephone, the radio, the television, and the Internet. Each advance introduced radical changes in epistemology, social organization, political power, and more. The second communication revolution was less dramatic but also consequential: Through research on language and social interaction, we advanced our understanding of social life, which exists only as we perform it through everyday communication. Naturalistic studies of human interaction have revealed how human knowledge, social organizations, political power, and more are accomplished through vocal and visible forms of communication, as people create shared meanings, achieve common understandings, and coordinate social action.
