key sociologists

• Giddens, Duneier and Applebaum (Increased interest in globalisation)


  If human history were the equivalent to the 24 hour day, not much would happen in the first 23 hours. Agriculture would change at 11:56, great civilisations would appear at 11:57 and modern societies would emerge at 11:59:30 - more change has taken place in the last 30 seconds that in the entire day

  The pace at which society is changing is faster than ever previously recognised.
• Wiseman (Increased interest in globalisation)

  The term 'globalisation' can be misused and misunderstood so it needs to be used carefully in sociology.
• Carter (Cybercity)


  Virtual community with 1,062,072 users

  Longitudinal study, 3.5 years

  Participant observation & questionnaires & offline semi-structured interviews

  Cybercity is just another place to meet people with similar interests people are investing as much effort in maintains relationships in cyberspaces
• Boellstroff (Second life)


  One of the largest virtual worlds, residents create communities, buy properties, meet in bars & fall in love

  2 years of fieldwork, living among & observing its residents

  Ppt observations & interviews

  Explores a range of issues & construction of identity - shows how virtual behaviour & can change ideas about identity & society
• Castells (Network society)


  Interpretation of the impact of digital communication drawing upon Marxist ideas

  We are moving into an age defined by information, significant change has occurred as a result of the evolution of new information technologies

  Society remains capitalist the focus has shifted from a focus on energy to information
• Boyle (Media convergence)


  Explains how the process of digitalisation allows media convergence: these types of media can be accessed through one device
• Haraway (Chosen identities)


  Cyborgs allow women to transcend their gender to avoid traditional assumptions & engage however they want online
• Ellison (Chosen identities)


  Multiple identities online can be created, & online activities often leave invisible traces which can be captured, tracked, packaged & shared
• Boyle (Age & technology)

  Each successive generation has a greater reliance on digital communication than the previous ones

  There is a 'digital divide' between the young and old

  Younger people are more willing to learn the new skills needed than the older generation

  Younger people rely more on digital communication for peer groups & networks that are influential in their lives
• Berry (Older users of the internet)


  A lot of older people say they don't have the skills/ interest to use the internet

  Content has been made to encourage older people to use it

  Only 37% of people above the state pension age have access to the internet at home but 73% below it do: shows the digital divide
• Martens and D'Haenens (Digital divide)

  In Brussels, lower social class was linked to lower internet use: 81% were users of the internet & only 6% were lower class

  Those of the lower class who did use digital communication focussed it more on entertainment: 79% owned a game console compared to 65% of middle class

  Social class is the most powerful influence on digital communication use
• Li and Kirup (Gender & digital communication)


  Male students in both China & Britain were more likely to use the email & chat rooms then women

  Men played more computer games than women

  Men were more confident about their computer skills than women
• Turkle (Digital communication affecting relationships)


  There are concerns with the ways our communication tools distance us from one another: we could be in the same room as someone but use our devices to communicate with other people who aren't there - 'Alone together
• Granovetter (Relationships measured through digital communication)


  The strength of our social ties can be measured by these factors:

  1). The amount of time spent together

  2). The emotional intensity of the relationship

  3). The level of intimacy

  4). The degree of reciprocity
• Zhao (Types of relationships created through digital communication)


  Activities that connect people directly to one another tend to increase social ties & strengthen relationships, but those using the internet don't
• Kraut et al (Types of relationships created through digital communication)

  Most individuals who use the internet for social purposes are successful in maintaining in person relationships

  Online ties tend to be weaker than relationships formed in person
• Feld (Types of relationships created through digital communication)


  People use social networks to evaluate themselves & others: identity can be determined by the network of friends they have

  One's social network is directly linked to how many strong & weak ties a person has
• Miller (Tales from Facebook)


  Some people believe that the truth of a another person's life lies more in what you see online than face to face

  Facebook has become a vehicle for business, the church, sex & remembering people who have passed away
• Shaw & Gant (Positive effects of the internet)

  Internet was found to decrease loneliness & depression, perceived social support & self-esteem increased
• Howard (Digital communication in fundamentalist religious groups)

  In 1999, there was a virtual church built around those who embraced a common ideology in a network of Christians

  Digital Jesus: likeminded individuals created a large web of religious communication on the internet developing a new type of religious movement without a leader
• Sutton, Palen and Shklovski ( Southern California wildfires)

  DFOC are used for dealing with disasters: helps raise awareness & generates information that is generally hard to obtain

  Social media spreads community information resources & other communications, which are becoming more important in disasters despite concerns over the legitimacy of the info shared
• Kirkpatrick (Facebook Effect)


  Facebook became a catalyst for a movement in Columbia: 10 million people in street demonstrations, curbing the violence from the army

  Social media contributes to & shapes the course of major social movements
• Mohammadi (Responses to cultural homogenisation)


  The simple image of western media & cultural domination all over the world is exaggerated & ignores more complex interactions between different cultures
• Giddens (Responses to cultural homogenisation)


  Reverse colonisation: less powerful groups culturally have more power over the dominating western powers, eg. Mexicanization of California

  Poorer cultures can influence the richer ones
• Croteau & Hoynes (Digital communication &cultural defence)


  Some global digital media companies have been forced to take into account local practices & adapt their materials accordingly, linking with local partners to ensure their companies still grow
• Cochrane & Pain (Globalisation definition)

  The emergence of a global economic & cultural system which is incorporating the people of the world into a single global society
• Cohen & Kennedy (Globalisation definition)

  A series of transformations of the world including changes in the concept of time & space, interdependent economies increasing cultural interaction & increasing shared problems
• Giddens (Globalisation definition)


  Globalisation can be defined as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away & vica versa
• Haraway (Feminism)


  Women should be included in all forms of knowledge relating to technologically based information

  Feminists mustn't be excluded from the technological advances that were taking place & instead be part of & inform them, women cannot be essentialised

  What is considered to be female is highly politicised & socially constructed

  Cyborgs might allow people to transcend/rise above gender bound ideas of what it means to be a person

  Technological advances offer the possibility for women to create new forms of identity not bound by traditional idea/dominant patriarchal discourses about gender

  Cyborg metaphor: problems with feminism & capitalism might be overcome through greater understanding of identity
• Nakamura (Feminism)


  Women from a range of ethnic minorities are gaining an increasing presence in digital communication & this enable their particular interest
• Arlaccki (Feminism)


  Led the UN's efforts to fight organised crime

  Exploitation has been one of the most undesirable consequences of globalisation

  There are increasing concerns about the exploitation of children through various forms of digital communication
• Cornford and Robins (Marxism)


  Digital communication is presented as a new form of democratic open communication

  They're doubtful of these claims & argue that people who own & control the digital media are capitalist who not only want to make profit but also to ideologically control the masses
• Cornford & Robins ( Marxism- surveillance)


  Digital communication is simply a way of capitalism controlling people more subtly through their use of various social media under the guise of protecting people from criminal acts
• Collins (Postmodernism)


  To understand society, the chains of interaction between people must be understood, he suggests that by looking closely at how individuals construct their identity through social media sites using a micro-approach
• Foucault (Postmodernism)


  Surveillance is likely to become the most effective means of regulating behaviour & reducing crime in contemporary society, a person who knows they are being watched is less likely to commit a crime as their chances of being caught are much greater
• Case (Postmodernism)


  Facebook as a new form of autobiography can present a challenge especially to adolescents who in effect have two adolescences; one online & one offline

  The nature of new social media makes it harder to remove mistakes as every interaction is visible, many people don't realise that much of what they say is stored by social media companies & is hard to remove/ edit which can cause conflict & tension
• Hart (Postmodernism)


  Individuals are writing and rewriting their autobiographies on a daily basis which reflect their own values and values of their particular society,

  identity is therefore created online and offline

  There is a tendency of traditional interpretations of the self to regard posting in Facebook as trivial/superficial

  Events on facebook can be understood as cultural significant as they reflect people's feelings & actions in a particular context

  Digital communication is an important way of exploring & understanding and he complex ways in which identify is created
• Bjorklund (Postmodernism)


  Until recently, individuals have used autobiographies to describe their lives as they near the end of their lives

  In a postmodern world, people take a different view of defining the self

  Digital communication offer an ongoing autobiography which can be continually manipulated & updated
• Elliot (Postmodernism)


  Pessimistic about the fragmented nature of identity as a result of sites