Manovich sees data visualization as a subset of mapping and visualization as quantified data that is not visual into a visual representation. The most sense we can make of that as part of the human condition is through the four dimensions of space (x, y and z) and time. However, the challenge of that is most data doesn't tuck comfortably into those four categories, so it is up to designers and clients to choose which to omit or consolidate and how then to map those dimensions.
He refers to the term "meta-media" which is re-mapping old media objects into new structures, which also allows the media to be mapped into a different dimension.
Meta-media fits within the "modern key aesthetic paradigms"-according to Manovich- of postmodernism and globalization- defining it as the "remix between culture and computers".
The most prominent of all points in this deluge of re-mapping old media into new structures- is the ethical considerations that designers, clients, developers, producers- "radical dj's" as Manovich suggests- must constantly be re-evaluating so as not to reduce or minimize cultural experience into a singular image or sound bite for the sake of aesthetics.