Engineering Epistemic Churn: A Theory of Prolonged Meaning-Making Under Platform Conditions

This paper theorizes how platform infrastructures produce epistemic churn—a condition in which publics remain caught in unresolved cycles of interpretation. Unlike models centered on belief accuracy or convergence, epistemic churn explains how infrastructures govern not what is believed, but whether belief stabilizes at all. We argue that churn emerges from engineered turbulence—systemic interventions that modulate epistemic friction (the difficulty of reaching interpretive closure), delaying stabilization while sustaining engagement. To render churn empirically tractable, we propose a family of methods that can both test the theory and provide qualitative nuance on its mechanics. Situating churn within a broader theory of communicative governance, the paper reframes communication theory by showing how infrastructures sustain engagement by prolonging interpretive labor. Normatively, it shows how platforms govern not by silencing expression but by deferring belief formation, a subtle form of power with profound consequences for democratic life and collective agency.