The Difference-Theoretical Approach and Its Extensions

The difference-theoretical approach was developed within a specific historical horizon: a society organized by functionally differentiated communication systems with stable preference codes. This chapter argues that the ICT revolution—specifically the rise of social media—has disrupted those conditions and proposes three conceptual extensions. First, it consolidates the canonical framework, clarifying the relationships among communication codes, technization, and second-order observation. Second, it examines what has changed: social media does not fit neatly into Luhmann’s three-category taxonomy of social systems and generates new dynamics of code transformation, including accelerated technization and code collision. Third, the chapter proposes three extensions: distinguishing communication as element from social system as observer, a diachronic account of code transformation dynamics, and a framework for social media as communication medium. Two Japanese case studies demonstrate the extensions. The post-3.11 fu-hyo-higai case shows how the safe/dangerous preference code was paradoxically reactivated by counter-campaigns designed to neutralize it. The kizuna discourse shows how social ties are improbable achievements made probable by media and how technization of the strong/weak tie code produces paradoxical usage. Both cases converge on one conclusion: the appropriate target for restructuring is communication circuit design, not individual consciousness.