“Onflow” Never Ceases: Media Practices of Digital Maps in the Context of More-than-Representation

JIANG Hong; XU Mengli

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Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication ›› 2026, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (2) : 92-114.

Research Articles

“Onflow” Never Ceases: Media Practices of Digital Maps in the Context of More-than-Representation

JIANG Hong ,
XU Mengli

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Abstract

This study takes “more-than-representational theory” as the theoretical lens and “Onflow” as the core concept. It examines three novel digital map applications distinct from traditional cartography: bodily performance in creative mapping, affective encounters in street-view maps, and ephemeral interactions in real-time traffic data. The study unfolds its analysis through three levels-experiential flow, life flow, and action flow—to explore the mediating practices of digital maps. Research reveals that within specific contexts and purposes, digital maps not only represent locations and spaces with greater precision but also generate lived experiences and actions through multifaceted interactions among people, places, and maps. These practices, where representation and non-representation coexist and intertwine, are reshaping the world. The more-than-representational turn of digital maps offers a new interpretive framework for communication studies beyond the traditional paradigms of "media as channel" or “media as text”, namely, “media as process”.

Key words

Digital maps / More-than-Representational Theory / Practice / Onflow / Process

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JIANG Hong , XU Mengli. “Onflow” Never Ceases: Media Practices of Digital Maps in the Context of More-than-Representation[J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication. 2026, 48(2): 92-114

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Funding

Key Project of National Social Science Foundation of China “Research on the Construction of a Theoretical Paradigm of Practical Journalism in Contemporary China”(25AXW003)