Guillermo Echauri Journalistic Hype: WIRED's Coverage of NFTs, Metaverses and Generative AI, Journalistic Hype: WIRED's Coverage of NFTs, Metaverses and Generative AI2025.
Academic Field:
Science and Technology Studies
Topic:
Journalistic Narratives, NFTs, Generative AI, Emerging Technologies, ETAC6, Metaverse

This paper presents the results of a qualitative analysis conducted on WIRED's digital content regarding three emerging technologies: non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the metaverse, and generative AI. The analysis identified a common element in WIRED’s journalistic narratives about these technologies: the predominance of hype surrounding them. The journalistic content reflects both industry and public perceptions, which imbue an exaggerated enthusiasm towards the emergence of these three technologies. However, WIRED not only reports on the hype surrounding NFTs, the metaverse, and generative AI, but also sustains it through persistent and repeated attention to these technologies. In doing so, the magazine actively participates in journalistic, digital, and technological trends that reinforce a sense of constant technological innovation. This suggests that WIRED engages in a fast-paced informational approach that amplifies the hype around these technologies by enthusiastically incorporating perspectives that explore different facets of the latest updates on emerging technologies and their implications into its journalistic coverage.

Hype Illustration Hype Illustration