Social Theory after the Internet
Media, Technology, and Globalization
by Ralph Schroeder
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Social Theory after the Internet focuses on everyday uses and effects of the internet, including information seeking and big data, and explains how the internet has gone beyond traditional media in, for example, enabling Donald Trump and Narendra Modi to come to power. Schroeder puts forward a sophisticated theory of the role of the internet, and how both technological and social forces shape its significance. He provides a sweeping and penetrating study, theoretically ambitious and at the same time always empirically grounded.The book will be of great interest to students and scholars of digital media and society, the internet and politics, and the social implications of big data. 
Book Description
The internet has fundamentally transformed society in the past 25 years, yet existing theories of mass or interpersonal communication do not work well in understanding a digital world. Nor has this understanding been helped by disciplinary specialization and a continual focus on the latest innovations. Ralph Schroeder takes a longer-term view, synthesizing perspectives and findings from various social science disciplines in four countries: the United States, Sweden, India and China. His comparison highlights, among other observations, that smartphones are in many respects more important than PC-based internet uses.Social Theory after the Internet focuses on everyday uses and effects of the internet, including information seeking and big data, and explains how the internet has gone beyond traditional media in, for example, enabling Donald Trump and Narendra Modi to come to power. Schroeder puts forward a sophisticated theory of the role of the internet, and how both technological and social forces shape its significance. He provides a sweeping and penetrating study, theoretically ambitious and at the same time always empirically grounded.The book will be of great interest to students and scholars of digital media and society, the internet and politics, and the social implications of big data.
This open book is licensed under a Creative Commons License (CC BY). You can download Social Theory after the Internet ebook for free in PDF format (11.7 MB).
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
The internet in theory
Chapter 2
Media systems, digital media and politics
Chapter 3
Digital media and the rise of right-wing populism
Chapter 4
The internet in everyday life I: sociability
Chapter 5
The internet in everyday life II: seeking information
Chapter 6
Big data: shaping knowledge, shaping everyday life
Chapter 7
Futures
Book Details
Title
Social Theory after the Internet
Subject
Computer Science
Publisher
UCL Press
Published
2018
Pages
210
Edition
1
Language
English
ISBN13 Digital
9781787351226
ISBN10 Digital
178735122X
PDF Size
11.7 MB
License
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