Social Implications of the Internet
TLDR
The Internet is a critically important research site for sociologists testing theories of technology diffusion and media effects, particularly because it is a medium uniquely capable of integrating modes of communication and forms of content.Abstract:
The Internet is a critically important research site for sociologists testing theories of technology diffusion and media effects, particularly because it is a medium uniquely capable of integrating modes of communication and forms of content. Current research tends to focus on the Internet's implications in five domains: 1) inequality (the “digital divide”); 2) community and social capital; 3) political participation; 4) organizations and other economic institutions; and 5) cultural participation and cultural diversity. A recurrent theme across domains is that the Internet tends to complement rather than displace existing media and patterns of behavior. Thus in each domain, utopian claims and dystopic warnings based on extrapolations from technical possibilities have given way to more nuanced and circumscribed understandings of how Internet use adapts to existing patterns, permits certain innovations, and reinforces particular kinds of change. Moreover, in each domain the ultimate social implications of t...read more
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스크린 위의 삶 = Life on the screen : identity in the age of the internet
Sherry Turkle,유식 최 +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, Sherry Turkle uses Internet MUDs (multi-user domains, or in older gaming parlance multi-user dungeons) as a launching pad for explorations of software design, user interfaces, simulation, artificial intelligence, artificial life, agents, virtual reality, and the on-line way of life.
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Does the Internet Increase, Decrease, or Supplement Social Capital? : Social Networks, Participation, and Community Commitment
TL;DR: The authors found that heavy Internet use is associated with increased participation in voluntary organizations and politics, and that people's interaction online supplements their face-to-face and telephone communication without increasing or decreasing it.
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The Knowledge Economy
Walter W. Powell,Kaisa Snellman +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define the knowledge economy as production and services based on knowledge intensive activities that contribute to an accelerated pace of technical and scientific advance, as well as rapid obsolescence, and assess the distributional consequences of a knowledge-based economy with respect to growing inequality in wages and high-quality jobs.
References
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Diffusion of Innovations
TL;DR: A history of diffusion research can be found in this paper, where the authors present a glossary of developments in the field of Diffusion research and discuss the consequences of these developments.
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Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
TL;DR: Putnam as mentioned in this paper showed that changes in work, family structure, age, suburban life, television, computers, women's roles and other factors are isolating Americans from each other in a trend whose reflection can clearly be seen in British society.
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The rise of the network society
TL;DR: The Rise of the Network Society as discussed by the authors is an account of the economic and social dynamics of the new age of information, which is based on research in the USA, Asia, Latin America, and Europe, it aims to formulate a systematic theory of the information society which takes account of fundamental effects of information technology on the contemporary world.
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An Economic Theory of Democracy
TL;DR: Downs presents a rational calculus of voting that has inspired much of the later work on voting and turnout as discussed by the authors, particularly significant was his conclusion that a rational voter should almost never bother to vote.