Information Communication and Society: A Note from the Editor, Brian Loader

Journal of Information, Communication & Society (iCS)

Brian D. Loader

Since 1997, the journal of Information, Communication & Society (iCS) has been charting the global diffusion and implications of digital media, communication and information technologies for individuals, households and society at large. The ubiquity of such media is a striking testimony to their influence in the contemporary world. This rich interdependence and inseparability of social and technical manifestations is well represented in the titles of articles published in iCS covering almost every facet of our lifestyles including patterns of work and leisure, entertainment, consumption, education, environmentalism, political activity, domestic life and individual identity. From the outset iCS has encouraged a multidisciplinary approach to the analysis and understanding of the economic, political, cultural and other social implications of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This has and continues to be reflected in the contributions by academics, practitioners and policy-makers drawn from such fields as communication and media, political sciences, sociology, philosophy, psychology, geography, gender studies, computer sciences, social and public policy, science fiction and many more.

A defining objective of iCS is the publication of the highest quality material from these varied sources and to provide an international forum for accessible but critical analyses of the social shaping and implications of technological change. It has always avoided the more hyperbolic claims of technological futurists and has instead sought to ground our knowledge and understanding on high quality empirical and theoretic studies of media, communication and information technologies and society. As such it addresses such questions as:

• What are the social issues of new and evolving forms of social networking?
• What is the geography of communication on the worldwide network of networks? Will ICTs facilitate globalization or reinforce local identity, ethnic difference and region sub-cultures?
• Are new technologies, from the Internet to sensor networks leading to an age of electronic surveillance?
• How are ICTs affecting daily life and social institutions such as the family, work, organization, education, politics, health care and leisure activities?

iCS publishes eight issues a year which includes a number of special issues and book reviews. We are also pleased to publish special issues of selected papers presented at the annual conferences of The Association of Internet Researchers and The American Sociological Association (CITASA Group). iCS has become the place to submit leading articles on the social issues of our networked society.

For more information, see the journal Web site at Taylor and Francis-Routledge.