The sociology of the Internet, also known as the social psychology of the Internet, studies how sociological and social psychological theories and methods apply to the Internet as a source of information and communication. It examines the social implications of the technology, including new social networks, virtual communities, online interactions, and issues such as cybercrime. A related field, digital sociology, focuses on understanding digital media as a part of everyday life and its influence on social relationships, behavior, and identity.
The Internet, as a major information breakthrough, is of interest to sociologists both as a research tool and as a subject of study. It enables online surveys, discussion platforms, and other data-collection methods. The sociology of the Internet focuses on online communities, virtual worlds, and organizational changes driven by digital media, as well as broader social transformations from industrial to information societies. Researchers examine online communities using statistical methods, such as network analysis, and qualitative approaches, including virtual ethnography. Social change is studied through demographic data or by interpreting evolving messages and symbols in digital media.
Emergence of the discipline The Internet is a relatively new phenomenon. As Robert Darnton wrote, it is a revolutionary change that "took place yesterday, or the day before, depending on how you measure it."Robert Darnton, The Library in the New Age , The New York Review of Books, Volume 55, Number 10. June 12, 2008. Retrieved on 22 December 2009. The Internet developed from the ARPANET, dating back to 1969; as a term it was coined in 1974. The World Wide Web as we know it was shaped in the mid-1990s, when graphical interface and services like email became popular and reached wider (non-scientific and non-military) audiences and commerce.Paul DiMaggio, Eszter Hargittai, W. Russell Neuman, and John P. Robinson, Social Implications of the Internet, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 27: 307-336 (Volume publication date August 2001), Internet Explorer was first released in 1995; Netscape a year earlier. Google was founded in 1998. Wikipedia was founded in 2001. Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube in the mid-2000s. Web 2.0 is still emerging. The amount of information available on the net and the number of Internet users worldwide has continued to grow rapidly. The term 'digital sociology' is now becoming increasingly used to denote new directions in sociological research into digital technologies since Web 2.0.
Digital sociology The first scholarly article to have the term digital sociology in the title appeared in 2009.Wynn, J. (2009) Digital sociology: emergent technologies in the field and the classroom. Sociological Forum, 24(2), 448--456 The author reflects on how digital technologies may influence both sociological research and teaching. In 2010, 'digital sociology' was described by Richard Neal as bridging the growing academic focus and the increasing interest from global business.Neal, R. (2010) Expanding Sentience: Introducing Digital Sociology for moving beyond Buzz Metrics in a World of Growing Online Socialization. Lulu It was not until 2013 that the first purely academic book tackling the subject of 'digital sociology' was published.Orton-Johnson, K. and Prior, N. (eds) (2013) Digital Sociology: Critical Perspectives. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan The first sole-authored book entitled Digital Sociology was published in 2015,Lupton, D. (2015) Digital Sociology. London: Routledge and the first academic conference on "Digital Sociology" was held in New York, NY in the same year.
Although the term digital sociology has not yet fully entered the cultural lexicon, sociologists have conducted research on the Internet since its inception. These sociologists have addressed many social issues relating to online communities, cyberspace, and cyber-identities. This and similar research has attracted many names, such as cyber-sociology, the sociology of the internet, the sociology of online communities, the sociology of social media, the sociology of cyberculture, or something else again.
Digital sociology differs from these terms in that it has a broader scope, addressing not only the Internet or cyberculture but also the impact of other digital media and devices that have emerged since the first decade of the twenty-first century. Since the Internet has become more pervasive and linked to everyday life, references to the 'cyber' in the social sciences now seem to have been replaced by the 'digital'. 'Digital sociology' is related to other sub-disciplines such as digital humanities and digital anthropology. It is beginning to supersede and incorporate the other titles above, as well as including the newest Web 2.0 digital technologies into its purview, such as wearable technology, augmented reality, smart objects, the Internet of Things, and big data.
Research trends According to DiMaggio et al. (1999), research tends to focus on the Internet's implications in five domains: inequality (the issues of digital divide) public and social capital (the issues of date displacement) political participation (the issues of public sphere, deliberative democracy and civil society) organizations and other economic institutions participatory culture and cultural diversity
Early on, there were predictions that the Internet would change everything (or nothing); over time, however, a consensus emerged that the Internet, at least in the current phase of development, complements rather than displaces previously implemented media. This has meant a rethinking of the 1990s ideas of "convergence of new and old media". Further, the Internet offers a rare opportunity to study changes caused by the newly emerged—and likely, still evolving—information and communication technology (ICT).
Social impact The Internet has created social network services, forums of social interaction and social relations, such as Facebook, MySpace, Meetup, and CouchSurfing which facilitate both online and offline interaction.
Though virtual communities were once thought to be composed of strictly virtual social ties, researchers often find that even those social ties formed in virtual spaces are often maintained both online and offline.Lauren F. Sessions, "How offline gatherings affect online community members: when virtual community members 'meetup'.""Information, Communication, and Society"13,3(April, 2010):375-395Bo Xie, B. 'The mutual shaping of online and offline social relationships."Information Research, 1,3(2008):n.p.
There are ongoing debates about the impact of the Internet on strong and weak ties, whether the Internet is creating more or less social capital,Lee Rainie, John Horrigan, Barry Wellman, and Jeffrey Boase. (2006)"The Strength of Internet Ties" Pew Internet and American Life Project. Washington, D.C.Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook "friends": Social capital and college students' use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4). the Internet's role in trends towards social isolation, and whether it creates a more or less diverse social environment.
It is often said that the Internet is a new frontier, and some argue that social interaction, cooperation, and conflict among users resemble the anarchic and violent American frontier of the early 19th century.
In March 2014, researchers from the Benedictine University at Mesa in Arizona studied how online interactions affect face-to-face meetings. The study is titled, "Face to Face Versus Facebook: Does Exposure to Social Networking Web Sites Augment or Attenuate Physiological Arousal Among the Socially Anxious," published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. They analyzed 26 female students with electrodes to measure social anxiety. Before meeting people, the students were shown pictures of the subjects they were expected to meet. Researchers found that meeting someone face-to-face after looking at their photos increases arousal, which the study linked to an increase in social anxiety. These findings confirm previous studies that found that socially anxious people prefer online interactions. The study also recognized that arousal can be associated with positive emotions and may lead to positive feelings.
Recent research has taken the Internet of Things into its purview, as global networks of interconnected everyday objects are seen as the next step in technological advancement. Certainly, global space- and earth-based networks are expanding coverage of the IoT at a fast pace. This has wide-ranging consequences, with current applications in the health, agriculture, transportation, and retail sectors. Companies such as Samsung and Sigfox have invested heavily in said networks, and their social impact will have to be measured accordingly, with some sociologists suggesting the formation of socio-technical networks of humans and technical systems.Kranz, Matthias, Luis Roalter, and Florian Michahelles. "Things that Twitter: social networks and the Internet of Things." What can the Internet of Things do for the Citizen (CIoT) Workshop at The Eighth International Conference on Pervasive Computing? (Pervasive 2010). 2010. Issues of privacy, right to information, legislation, and content creation will come into public scrutiny in light of these technological changes.
Digital sociology and data emotions Digital sociology is connected with data and data emotions. Data emotions occur when people use digital technologies that can affect their decision-making skills or emotions. Social media platforms collect user data and also affect users' emotional states, which can lead to either solidarity or social engagement. Social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter can evoke emotions of love, affection, and empathy. Viral challenges such as the 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge and viral memes have brought people together through mass participation, displaying cultural knowledge and self-understanding. Mass participation in viral events prompts users to share information (data), affecting psychological states and emotions. The link between digital sociology and data emotions arises from the integration of technological devices into everyday life and activities.
Impact on children Researchers have investigated the use of technology (as opposed to the Internet) by children and how it can be used excessively, where it can cause medical health and psychological issues. The use of technological devices by children can cause them to develop addictions and can lead them to experience negative effects such as depression, attention problems, loneliness, anxiety, aggression and solitude. Obesity is another result of the use of technology by children, due to how children may prefer to use their technological devices rather than doing any form of physical activity. Parents can take control and implement restrictions to the use of technological devices by their children, which will decrease the negative results technology can have if it is prioritized as well as help put a limit to it being used excessively.