Social implications of the internet

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Social implications of the internet

• I203 Social and Organizational Issues of
  Information

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Wrap-up from last Thursday

• What work does the term Web 2.0 do?

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Domains of Internet Implications (Dimaggio et
al. 2001)

• Inequality
• Emphasis on Marxist sociology
• Community and Social Capital
• Emphasis on Durkheimian and Weberian sociology
• Political Participation
• Organizations
• Cultural Participation/Diversity

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Inequality and the Digital Divide

• Social Stratification
• Digital Divide as an example of social
  stratification
• Within the U.S.
• Between countries

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Overview of Social Stratification

• Social Stratification The study of how a
  society is divided into different social groups.
• Often used synonymously with inequality, but not
  always necessarily the same thing.
• Social stratification can reflect inequalities in
  life chances within a given society.

Open / Closed Social Mobility Power
Distribution
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Focus on Social Class

• Social class divides groups based primarily on
  economic differences (i.e., Marxist perspective).
• Often becomes correlated with many
  socio-demographic characteristics (race, gender,
  etc)
• Expanded version of Marxs argument
• Skills, qualifications also important (not just
  ownership of property)
• Status not necessarily related to wealth also
  prestige, social respect

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Common Perspectives on the Digital Divide

• A lack of physical connections and training
• A lack of computers, access and training but
  problem will solve itself in time
• A lack of computers, access and training, made
  worse by government policy
• A lost opportunity disadvantaged groups are
  unable to make use of ICTs to improve their lives
• A reflection of the lack of basic literacy,
  general poverty, health and other social issues.

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Social Stratification and the Internet

• Is there a Global Digital Divide and if so,
  what are the core issues according to Dimaggio et
  al.?
• What do Dimaggio et al. mean by Inequality in
  Content Providers Access to Attention?

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Social Capital and Community
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Social Capital

• Networks as a resource access to information,
  goods, services.
• Cross-cutting social circles
• The greater the number of intersecting social
  circles of which a node is a member, the greater
  the nodes social capital

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Social Capital or Social Isolation?

• Does the Internet attenuate human relationships
  or reinforce them?
• Studying the issues over time
• Examples Kraut et al. (1998) and Kraut et al.
  (forthcoming)

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The mainstream collapse of community argument

• Putnam (2000) argues that our social capital has
  drastically decreased over time in the U.S.
• For example, we sign fewer petitions, we know our
  neighbors less, socialize with family less often.
• Changes in work, the rise of television and
  computers viewed as primary contributors to this
  purported change.

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The Internet and Development of Community

• Shift from group-based to network-based society?
  (Wellman 2001)
• Implications are often tied to how we measure and
  evaluate outcomes
• Substitution of communication technologies for
  F2F seen as decrease in social environment
  interaction.
• Alsoonline communication viewed as expanding
  social connectivity and social capital (Facebook,
  LinkedIn, etc).

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the Internet has no intrinsic effect on social
interaction and civic participationInternet use
tends to intensify already existing inclinations
toward sociability or community involvement we
need to know more than we do about the
qualitative character of online
relationshipsvirtual communities exist in larger
number, but we know relatively little about their
performancewe need more systematic studies of
how civic associations and social movements use
the Internet to understand the institutional
conditions that encourage or discourage
successful exploitation of the technology for
collective ends. -Dimaggio et al. p. 319
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For Thursday

• Dimaggio et al. continued (political and cultural
  participation)
• Social Psychology and Internet Implications
  (i.e., does the Internet really cause behavior?)