Description
Digital media are normal. But this was not always true. For a long time, lay discourse, academic exhortations, pop culture narratives, and advocacy groups constructed new Information and communications technologies (ICTs) as exceptional. Whether they were believed to be revolutionary, dangerous, rife with opportunity, or other-worldly, these tools and technologies were framed as extraordinary. But digital media are now mundane, thoroughly embedded - and often unquestioned - in everyday life. Digital ICTs are enmeshed in health and wellness, work and organizations, elections, capital flows, intimate relationships, social movements, and even our own identities. And although the study of these technologies has always been interdisciplinary - at the crossroads of computer science, cultural studies, science and technology studies, and communications - never has a sociological perspective been more valuable. Sociology has always excelled at helping us re-see the normal.The Oxford Handbook of Digital Media Sociology is a perfect point of entry for those curious about the state of sociological research on digital media. Each chapter reviews the sociological research that has been done thus far and points towards unanswered questions. The 34 chapters in the Handbook are arranged in six sections which look at digital media as they relate to: theory, social institutions, everyday life, community and identity, social inequalities, and politics & power. More than ever, the contributors to this volume help make it a centralizing resource, pulling together the various strands of sociological research focused on digital media. In addition to providing a distinctly sociological center for those scholars looking to find their way in the subfield, the volume offers top sociological research that provides an overview of digital media to explain our quickly changing world to a broader public. Readers will find it accessible enough for use in class, and thorough enough for seasoned professionals interested in a concise update in their areas of interest.
Table of Contents
AcknowledgmentsContributorsWhen the Extraordinary Become Mundane: Digital Media and The Sociological LensDeana A. Rohlinger, Sarah SobierajTheoretical Explorations of Digital Life1. Technology and TimeJudy Wajcman2. Media and the Social Construction of RealityNick Couldry and Andreas Hepp3. Theorizing CurationJenny Davis4. Affective Publics: Solidarity and DistanceZizi Papacharissi5. Big Data from the South(s): An Analytical Matrix to Investigate Data at the Margins Stefania Milan and Emiliano TreréDigital Media and Social Institutions6. From "Impact" to "Negotiation": Educational Technologies and InequalityCassidy Puckett and Matthew H. Rafalow7. Journalism in the Age of TwitterStephen R. Barnard8. Families, Relationships, and TechnologyRaelene Wilding9. Digital ReligionStef Aupers and Lars de Wildt10. Technology, Labor, and the Gig EconomyJamie WoodcockDigital Media in Everyday Life11. The Sociology of Mobile AppsDeborah Lupton12. Folding and Friction: The Internet of Things and Everyday LifeMurray Goulden13. Negotiating Intimacy via Dating Websites and Apps: Digital Media in Everyday LifeShantel Gabrieal Buggs14. Digital Pornography and Everyday LifeJennifer A. Johnson15. Use of Information and Communication Technologies Among Older Adults: Usage Differences, Health-Related Impacts, and Future NeedsShelia Cotten and Alexander Seifert16. The Sociology of Self-Tracking and Embodied Technologies: How Does Technology Engage Gendered, Raced, and Datafied Bodies?Elizabeth WissingerDigital Media, Community and Identity17. LGBTQ+ Communities and Digital MediaBrady Robards, Paul Byron, and Sab D'Souza18. Facework on Social Media in ChinaXiaoli Tian and Qian Li19. Video Games and Identity Formation in Contemporary SocietyDaniel Muriel20. Fans and Fan ActivismThomas V. Maher21. Trolls and Hacktivists: Political Mobilization from Online CommunitiesJessica L. Beyer22. Networked Street LifeJeffrey Lane and Will MarlerDigital Media Social Inequalities23. The Feminization of Social Media LaborSophie Bishop and Brooke Erin Duffy24. Electronic Waste and Environmental JusticeDavid N. Pellow25. Digital War: Mediatized Conflicts in Sociological PerspectiveOlga Boichak26. Masculinity, Everyday Racism, and GamingStephanie Ortiz27. Socioeconomic Inequalities and Digital SkillsMatías Dodel28. The Digital Production Gap in the Algorithmic EraJen Schradie and Liam BekirskyDigital Media, Power, and Politics29. Detect, Document, and Debunk: Studying Media Manipulation and DisinformationGabrielle Lim and Joan Donovan30. Gender, Digital Toxicity, and Political Voice OnlineSarah Sobieraj31. Digital Media in Grassroots Anti-Corruption Across the WorldAlice Mattoni32. Digital Youth PoliticsJennifer Earl, Sam Scovill, and Elliot Ramo33. Transformations in American Political ParticipationDeana A. Rohlinger
