This course focuses on the social shaping of the Internet and its societal implications. Students are introduced to issues surrounding the social impact of the Internet and related media, communication and information technologies, including social media, mobile and the Internet of Things. The course will cover major issues, including implications for democracy, collective action, social networking, the quality of news and information, privacy, freedom of expression and economic development. Perspectives on how people design, use, regulate and otherwise shape technologies are covered. An emphasis in course readings and discussion is placed on theoretical perspectives and empirical approaches to challenging conventional wisdom about the social impact of the Internet and related technologies, such as the social media, mobile Internet, and the Internet of Things.
Prospective Readings Include:
Graham, M., and Dutton, W. H. (2014) (eds), Society & the Internet: How Networks of Information and Communication are Changing our Lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Keen, A. (2015), The Internet Is Not The Answer. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.
Rainie, L., and Wellman, B. (2012), Networking: The New Social Operating System. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Additional for Graduate Students
Dutton, W. H. (2014) (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Internet Studies, paperback edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Further Readings
Doctorow, C. (2014), Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free: Laws for the Internet Age. San Francisco: McSweeney’s.
Hartley, J., Burgess, J., and Bruns, A. (2013) (eds), A Companion to New Media Dynamics. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Hi Prof. Dutton
I have ordered the book, will look at slides later. Thank you again
Yvette
Hello Prof. Dutton
I am a 2nd yr. undergraduate student at the University of Bedfordshire. I am studying ‘Education’ and looking at literature, on social influences online for children and young people.
I am trying to find a paper you wrote in 2005 and presented to a conference. I would like to read it as I keep coming across it in my studies. Here is the reference, please, can you help? I could not find it online.
Dutton, W (2005). The social dynamics of the internet. Paper presented to the International Knowledge and Society Conference, University of California, Berkeley, February (www.oii.ox.ac.uk)
Yvette, I don’t believe there is a paper, but I gave a set of talks in 2005 on the social dynamics of the Internet, and I believe this slide deck, based on a presentation for the Sociology Dept at the University of Oxford, captures the key data and points made. I’ve just uploaded it to Slideshare at: http://www.slideshare.net/WHDutton/social-dynamics-of-the-internet I hope this helps, and good luck with your work. By the way, you might want to see Society and the Internet, edited by Graham and Dutton (OUP 2014).