Purpose and content of
The shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 occurred as the internet became more interactive. Instead of consuming info on static websites, users began creating, sharing, and modifying content. New tech. Such as blogs, wikis, and social networking sites encouraged participation, collaboration, and user-generated content. || sociological theories:
Durkem –
online behavior follows social norms, weber – likes and shares are oriented thowards others, tonies – explains online comms n social relationships, marxs –
digital platforms organize movement || Networked publics = groups of people who interact and participate through digitally networked media, formed through the internet and social media rather than physical spaces. They are important because they connect people across different social groups and enable new forms of communication, participation, and collective action. || Main arguments for cyberoptimists:
Internet promotes participation, democracy, access to information, and social empowerment.
Main arguments for cyberpessimists
Increases surveillance, inequality, misinformation, and social fragmentation. The book suggests avoiding both extremes and analysing the internet’s actual social consequences in specific contexts. || Cyberrealism is the view that digital media have both positive and negative consequences. Rejects extremes of cyberop. And cyberpes. And argues that the impact of technology depends on social context and human use. But, digital media should be evaluated based on their real effects in society. || CMC is unique compared to other methods bc it allows people to communicate across distance and independently of time through digital networks. It reduces the importance of physical presence, increases connectivity, and creates new forms of social interaction through digitally networked media. || Key issues in social psych. Digital society are
Identity (how people construct and present themselves online). Self-presentation (managing impressions through profiles, posts, photos, and interactions). Computer-mediated communication (CMC) – how digital communication differs from face-to-face interaction. Social cues (how cues are reduced, altered, or replaced in online environments. Relationships and interaction (how digital media affect the formation and maintenance of social relationships. Anonymity and visibility – how being anonymous or highly visible online influences behaviour. || Online communities fullfill sense of belonging, social support, collaboration, id. Formation and information sharing. || Social networks are structures made up of individuals connected through social relationships and interactions. In digital society, these connections are increasingly maintained through the internet and social media. || Selfies have introduced new elements into social interaction by making self-presentation, visibility, and identity performance more central to everyday communication. They are technologies of self because they construct an image of our self to present us to others. || Images online can be analysed by the Jakobson model (Message – the content being communicated.
Code – the language or symbols used.
Channel/Contact – the medium through communication occurs.
Context – the situation or topic to which the message refers.) || Provoking aims to generate a response r discussion, while trolling aims to provoke emotional reactions for their own sake.
Trolling focuses on creating and circulating affect such as anger, outrage, or amusement rather than contributing to meaningful com.. || Can the internet create a new public sphere?
the debate over whether the internet creates a new public sphere centres on its democratic potential.
Supporters
– increases participation, communication, and formation of networked publics.
Critics
– online communication is fragmented, unequal, and influenced by commercial interests. But, internet can function as a public sphere in some ways, but it not fully satisfy the democratic ideals of the traditional public sphere.|| Provoking aims to generate a response or discussion, while trolling primarily aims to provoke emotional reactions for their own sake.
Trolling focuses on creating and circulating affect such as anger, outrage, or amusement rather than contributing to meaningful communication. || Can the internet create a new public sphere? The debate over whether the internet creates a new public sphere centres on its democratic potential.
Supporters argue that it increases participation, communication, and the formation of networked publics.
Critics argue that online communication is fragmented, unequal, and influenced by commercial interests. Therefore, the internet can function as a public sphere in some ways, but it does not fully satisfy the democratic ideals of the traditional public sphere.||
Cybersalons extend the public sphere by creating digital spaces for discussion and debate. The private cybersphere alters it by bringing personal experiences and private issues into public communication.
Together, they blur the boundary between public and private life and create new forms of participation online. || Race, gender, identity, and power continue to shape digital society.
Cyberfeminism highlights the potential of digital media to challenge gender inequalities, while cybertyping shows how racial and ethnic stereotypes are reproduced online.
Identity tourism refers to experimenting with alternative identities on the internet. Together, these concepts show that digital media create new possibilities for identity but do not remove existing power relations and inequalities. || Provious social movements vs social movements now:
Social movements in digital society differ from earlier movements because they are more networked, decentralised, and organised through digital media. Instead of relying mainly on formal organisations and collective identities, they often use social media, personalised forms of participation, and rapid online communication to mobilise supporters and coordinate action. || Personal action frames and connective action show how mobilisation in digital society can occur without strong organisations or collective identities. People participate by sharing personalised messages through digital networks. These concepts help explain why contemporary social movements are more flexible, decentralised, and networked than traditional forms of collective action. || internet and movements:
when they facilitate communication, coordination, and mobilisation. They allow information to spread rapidly, connect participants across large distances, and support networked forms of collective action. This increases the visibility, reach, and effectiveness || Internet research can learn from mobile communication research that digital technologies should be studied in relation to everyday life rather than as separate online worlds. Both approaches emphasise context, social practices, and how communication technologies are integrated into people’s daily activities.
Mobile communication allows people to control whom they communicate with, how and when. It enables constant connectivity, flexible coordination, selective availability. –> social interaction becomes more personalised and adaptable. || Social and economic role of algorithms–
-> social (shape what we see) // economic (support business models by analising behavior, targetting and advertising) || the main critical approach on big data is that data is not neutral as: picked humanly, needs to protect privacy, can be biased, surveillance… || challenges on social research:
Big amount of data, probs with separating online n offline, need of new methods, ethical questions on consent n privac. || new types of data:
Digital traces (likes), socialmedia (posts), network (followers), ugc, behavior || Methodological bricolage bridges between qualitative and quantitative methods by combining multiple research approaches in the same project. Recognises that different methods produce different insights and that they can complement each other –> richer analysys ex (ethnog + sna) (text min + close reading) || ethical principles 4 research:
Protect vulnerable people, context matters, priva n consent, balance benefits n risks, empathy. || research process:
Formilare question, review rhories, choose research method, collect data n analyse, interpret n conclude || formulate question: start broad, explore n narrow, generate 5 related quest, focus on one. || best strat 4 field of study: follow the research quest, delimit public, platform, topic, particip, time period || challenges for empyrical data:
Defininf what counts as data, defining field, too much data, not accesible, ethical issues, interpretation || key elements data analysis:
Raw data, coding, themes, interpretation, conclusions || challenges and opps for ethnography:
opp – access large amounts of info avaiable publicly, observe online communities, interactions, and digital traces. Challeng – related to ethics, privacy, context, and the relationship between online and offline life. || fieldsite renegotiated–
– In digital ethnography, the fieldsite can no longer be understood as a single physical location. Researchers must study how people move between online and offline contexts and follow social interactions across different platforms and settings. The fieldsite therefore becomes a networked and multi-sited space. || SNA helps answer who is connected to whom, who occupies influential positions, how information spreads, how communities form, and how power is distributed within networks. Then we can create nodes and edges to understand patterns, clusters… ||