Tag Archives: network society

Coursenotes SOCI221 – Sociology of Cyberspace, Week 5

SOCI221 –Sociology of Cyberspace

Meeting 5: October 6, 2014
From Social Dynamics to Midsemester

Social Networks

Network Graph

By Dusk Eagle CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0

Logistics

  • Contributions Self-Assessement due October 13
    • Active learning
    • Rarely modified
  • Peer-ratings
  • Midterm on October 20
    • Doing sociology with Internet
    • Talk after break

Past Week

Social Dynamics

Activity: Digital Inclusion

  • Relevant factors?
  • Experiences?
  • Diversity of perspectives?

Required Texts

  • Latour, Bruno. “Networks, Societies, Spheres: Reflections of an Actor-network Theorist.” International Journal of Communication 5 (2011): 796–810. http://lar.me/2-o
  • Kreiss, D., M. Finn, and F. Turner. “The Limits of Peer Production: Some Reminders from Max Weber for the Network Society.” New Media & Society 13, no. 2 (October 12, 2010): 243–259. doi:10.1177/1461444810370951. http://lar.me/2-p

Latour

Latour, Bruno. “Networks, Societies, Spheres: Reflections of an Actor-network Theorist.” International Journal of Communication 5 (2011): 796–810. http://lar.me/2-o

  • Network society?
  • Classical sociology?
  • Agency?

Kreiss et al.

Kreiss, D., M. Finn, and F. Turner. “The Limits of Peer Production: Some Reminders from Max Weber for the Network Society.” New Media & Society 13, no. 2 (October 12, 2010): 243–259. doi:10.1177/1461444810370951. http://lar.me/2-p

  • Bureaucracy
  • Peer production vs. prosumption
  • Dialogue

Coming Up…

Midsemester

Activity: Network Graph

  • Make a list of ten people with whom you interact on a regular basis (friends, family, coworkers…)
  • Give an initial to each of these people.
  • Separately, list or map out the relationships between these people. Who knows whom?
  • What can you say about this social graph? Is it a dense network? Are you the only person connecting this group?
  • Post a brief thought about this graph.

Contributions

  • Grade on 10 and quick explanation
  • Extra mile? Made a difference?
  • Not attendance or expected work.
  • Not really assignment.
  • May change grade if really out of whack.

Midterm

  • Short answers (a sentence or two): two points each, probably four out of six
  • Open questions (a paragraph): three points each, probably four out of six
  • Apply concepts (e.g. “prosumption” on Facebook?)
  • Show you really understand: explain to somebody else
  • Broader issues, topics, concepts on doing sociology with the Internet

After Midterm

Social Inequalities

Required Texts

Van Dijk, Jan AGM. “Inequalities in the Network Society.” In Digital Sociology: Critical Perspectives, edited by Kate Orton-Johnson and Nick Prior, 105–124. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
Kendall, Lori. “Meaning and Identity in ‘Cyberspace’: The Performance of Gender, Class, and Race Online.” Symbolic Interaction 21, no. 2 (May 1998): 129–153. doi:10.1525/si.1998.21.2.129.

Van Dijk

Van Dijk, Jan AGM. “Inequalities in the Network Society.” In Digital Sociology: Critical Perspectives, edited by Kate Orton-Johnson and Nick Prior, 105–124. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

  • Digital Democracy
  • Social Network Analysis

Kendall

Kendall, Lori. “Meaning and Identity in ‘Cyberspace’: The Performance of Gender, Class, and Race Online.” Symbolic Interaction 21, no. 2 (May 1998): 129–153. doi:10.1525/si.1998.21.2.129.

Coursenotes, SOCI221 Week 4

SOCI221 –Sociology of Cyberspace

Meeting 4: September 29, 2014
From Social Structure to Social Dynamics

Social Structure

1984 Social Classes

By IAMTHEEGGMAN, AnonMoos, Stannered, Public domain

Past Week

Social Structure

Online Activity: Geek Test

  • Geekness
  • Popular Culture
  • Identity
  • Geeks in social contexts

Required Texts

  • Ritzer, G., and N. Jurgenson. (2010) “Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The Nature of Capitalism in the Age of the Digital ‘Prosumer’.” Journal of Consumer Culture 10 (1): 13–36. doi:10.1177/1469540509354673. http://joc.sagepub.com/content/10/1/13.short
  • Warschauer, M., and T. Matuchniak. (2010) “New Technology and Digital Worlds: Analyzing Evidence of Equity in Access, Use, and Outcomes.” Review of Research in Education 34(1): 179–225. doi:10.3102/0091732X09349791. http://rre.sagepub.com/content/34/1/179

Ritzer

Ritzer, G., and N. Jurgenson. (2010) “Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The Nature of Capitalism in the Age of the Digital ‘Prosumer’.” Journal of Consumer Culture 10 (1): 13–36. doi:10.1177/1469540509354673. http://joc.sagepub.com/content/10/1/13.short

  • Prosumption
  • Postindustrial?
  • Consumer society
  • Product or consumer/user/producer?

Warschauer

Warschauer, M., and T. Matuchniak. (2010) “New Technology and Digital Worlds: Analyzing Evidence of Equity in Access, Use, and Outcomes.” Review of Research in Education 34(1): 179–225. doi:10.3102/0091732X09349791. http://rre.sagepub.com/content/34/1/179

  • Usage
  • Digital Divide(s)
  • 21st Century Learning Skills

Next Week

Social Dynamics

Activity: Digital Inclusion

  • Divide in small groups (by numbers)
  • Scenario: a schoolboard meeting during which digital inclusion is discussed, a policy is devised to ensure that all students have equal opportunities for success in a digital world.
  • Advising: Based on what you’ve seen so far in the course, what should this policy take into account? What are the relevant criteria, factors, dimensions? What insight can sociology give, in this case?
  • Feel free to use an actual example from your own experience or to create a fictional case from your diverse experiences.
  • Each member of your group should post something about this activity.

Required Texts

  • Latour, Bruno. “Networks, Societies, Spheres: Reflections of an Actor-network Theorist.” International Journal of Communication 5 (2011): 796–810. http://lar.me/2-o
  • Kreiss, D., M. Finn, and F. Turner. “The Limits of Peer Production: Some Reminders from Max Weber for the Network Society.” New Media & Society 13, no. 2 (October 12, 2010): 243–259. doi:10.1177/1461444810370951. http://lar.me/2-p

Latour

Latour, Bruno. “Networks, Societies, Spheres: Reflections of an Actor-network Theorist.” International Journal of Communication 5 (2011): 796–810. http://lar.me/2-o

  • Playful but potentially difficult
  • Philosophical (onthology)
  • Actor-Network Theory (ANT) vs. classical sociology
  • Context: International Seminar on Network Theory (Manuel Castells)
  • Deep on “network”
  • Agency

Kreiss et al.

Kreiss, D., M. Finn, and F. Turner. “The Limits of Peer Production: Some Reminders from Max Weber for the Network Society.” New Media & Society 13, no. 2 (October 12, 2010): 243–259. doi:10.1177/1461444810370951. http://lar.me/2-p

  • Bureaucracy
    • Weber
    • Rational-legal authority
    • Iron cage
  • Peer-production
    • Web 2.0
    • Participatory culture
    • Link to prosumption
  • Polemic
    • Rhetoric
    • Reply to Benkler, Jenkins, etc. (conversation with interlocutors)
  • Making links
    • Identify common names
    • Threads between texts