Abstract This article discusses a possible future, in which the network society is deepening to become an internet-based ecosystemic society. The study of the possible societal impacts of the ‘media disruption’ brought along by the internet has been somewhat neglected. The article thus examines the social consequences of the ‘media disruption’ from the perspective of the media ecology tradition, which takes media into account as ‘living environments’. The article connects the media ecology tradition to the concept of the ecosystem, which has been primarily used in business economics discussions. In an ecosystemic economy, companies work in closer collaboration and share information more freely. One of the most central themes of the media ecology tradition is how different areas of society, such as private and public, work and leisure time and various institutions and organisations, begin to interlock as a consequence of the spread of electronic and digital media. The main argument of the article is that as the internet further penetrates all spheres of society, the metaphor of the ecosystem could serve as a metaphor for the entire society, not only for the economy. In this way it anticipates a possible future for the whole of society through changes in media. The article is part of the MEDEIA project (New roles and functions of media in the digital meanings society 2030) conducted at the Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC), University of Turku.
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