Online communication studies in Brazil: origins and state of the art

This article discusses the origins and development of research on online media and online political communication studies in Brazil. It analyzes the factors influencing the origins and development of the research on online media in the country. One the one hand, Brazil belongs to the semiperiphery of the international research system. On the other hand, when the online media appeared, there was already a solid tradition of Communication research in the country. It presents an overview of how Communication education and research organized in Brazil. Against this backdrop, it presents three stages of online media research development in Brazil: (a) incipient, (b) consolidation, and (c) new frontiers. In particular, it examines the impact that online media had on the Brazilian Political Communication research agenda.