Sociology in the Age of the Internet (Sociology and Social Change)

190 Pages·2007·52.4 MB·English

by  Allison Cavanagh

SOCIOLOGY IN THE AGE OF
THE INTERNET

SOCIOLOGY IN THE AGE OF
THE INTERNET
Allison Cavanagh
• Open University Press

Open University Press
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill House
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First published 2007
Copyright © Allison Cavanagh 2007
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of
criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such
licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing
Agency Ltd of Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London, EC1N 8TS.
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-13: 9780335217250 (pb) 9780335217267 (hb)
ISBN-lO: 0335217257 (pb) 0335217265 (hb)
Typeset by BookEns Limited, Royston, Herts.
Printed in Printed in Poland by Oz Graf S.A.
www.polskabook.pl
The McGraw'HiII Companies
Contents
Series editor's preface vi
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
Part One The rise of the network metaphor
1 Approaches to networks 23
2 Network methodologies 27
3 The network society 38
4 The internet as a network 48
Part Two The internet as a medium
Introduction to Part Two
5 Elements of a public sphere 64
6 Interactivity: it's got to be jelly 'cos jam don't 81
shake like that
7 The global public sphere and forms of power 92
Part Three The internet as a social space
Introduction to Part Three
8 Community 102
9 Online identity 120
Conclusion to Part Three 132
Part Four The internet as a technology
Introduction to Part Four
10 Sociologies of technology 139
11 The sociology of technology and the internet: 151
emergent perspectives
References 164
Index 00
To my mother, with all my love.
Series editor's preface
In response to perceived major transformations, social theorists have offered
forceful, appealing, but contrasting accounts of the predicament of
contemporary western societies and the implications for social life and
personal well-being. The speculative and general theses proposed by social
theorists must be subject to evaluation in the light of the best available
evidence if they are to serve as guides to understanding and modifying social
arrangements. The focus of the series is the critical appraisal of general,
substantive theories through examination of their applicability to different
institutional areas of contemporary societies. Each book introduces key
current debates and surveys of existing sociological argument and research
about institutional complexes in advanced societies.
Allison Cavanagh's book addresses a technological innovation whose
impact upon societies has been enormous and which looks sets to continue:
the internet. The book is divided into four parts, which discuss the internet,
respectively, as a network, as a form of (communication) media, as a social
space and as a technology. This neat division allows the author to explore, in
detail, the multidimensional nature of the internet and its impact, as well as
the quite diverse debates that it has sparked. The result is a fascinating
discussion, which serves both to introduce newcomers to this exciting field of
investigation and to carve out a persuasive position within it. Allison
Cavanagh opens her account with the claim that 'Studies of the internet often
become obsolete between writing and publication.' This is surely true, at one
level, given the pace of change in both the technology and the uses that social
actors find for it. Analytic frameworks, if solid and insightful, however, do not
and need not change at quite the same pace. They have the potential for
enduring significance. We believe that Sociology in the Age of the Internet has
this potential and will remain a central point of reference in both research
and teaching for many years to come.
Acknowledgements
With grateful thanks to Nick Crossley, who inspired this book in the first
place and whose advice on earlier drafts has improved the work immeasur
ably. Staff at the Institute of Communications Studies (ICS), University of
Leeds, encouraged me in writing this and supported a period of study leave. I
should particularly like to thank Robin Brown for helping me to reorganize
my commitments and stepping into the breach himself to allow me to
complete the work on it. Paul Taylor, Katherine Sarakakis and Richard
Howells have helped me keep my spirits up, and Steve Lax particularly helped
me ground and clarify my ideas around technology. I should also like to
thank students taking my first-year course at ICS, who were supportive and
generous with their feedback when I road-tested these materials with them,
and who have helped me to keep my enthusiasm for the project alive
throughout. Any bloopers are, of course, my own. SpeCial thanks are due to
Mark Barrett and Chris Cudmore at McGraw-Hill for their support and
encouragement. Thanks also to Dr Maria Touri, who kept me on track by
threatening to read it. My mother and my sister, Amanda, have listened,
consoled, helped me stay focused, and brought me down to earth when some
of my wilder ideas were on their annual migration. Finally, a special debt of
gratitude to Alex Dennis, my long-suffering partner, for sitting through the
umpteenth 'going on' of the day with saintly patience, offering his
considerable expertise in leading me out of a myriad of blind alleys, and
whose insights often turned the work in new, and better, directions. Without
Alex, no book.