從Luhmann的系統理論看行動通訊中App的自我生產系統

The Self-Production of the App System from the perspective of Luhmann's Systems Theory

本文從Luhmann的系統理論著手，透過對行動科技的初探性分析，藉由對手機與平板電腦特定平台上App系統的觀察，以理解其社會演化的意義。本文發現App系統做為社會次系統的內在結構有以下特點：首先，App系統與更大社會系統彼此共生，在資本主義的市場下，啟動了App次系統由社會系統中建立App平台、App開發，以及更重要的App下載使用的內在簡化原則。其次，這些原則在資本主義的市場下，藉由行動終端組成了自身的系統邊界和內在結構。第三，程式庫和下載量成為顯示系統活動的共同概念，格式化並「簡化」了系統環境的複雜性，也成為App系統的自我反身性。最後，這使得App系統成為自我維持，並且是個封閉的自我生產系統，而功能整合入社會系統。

Based on the perspective of Niklas Luhmann's Systems Theory, this paper presents a preliminary analysis mainly on the App system of the mobile the mobile communication. By observing on the so called App system, it sets to understand the meaning of its social evolution. The study found the internal structure of the App system, which activates as a social sub-system, contains the following themes and features – firstly, the App software and the broader social system heavily rely on each other, therefore, within the existing market of capitalism, such interdependence clearly enables the social system-based App sub-system to establish the App platform, the App development, and even more importantly, the simplified internal principle of App 'use and download'. Secondly, credited to the mobile terminal, these set principles in the capital market are able to construct a system boundary and inner structure of its own. Thirdly, the software (App) library and the amount of downloads become the common-theme (shared-concept) to project the activities of the system. This (re) formulates and simplifies the complexity of the original system environment to form the self-reflexivity of App system. At last, such reflexivity allows the App system to self-generate and maintain itself. Although its functions may have been well-integrated into the social system, App system discloses a close type of self-contained/self-production system.