Society and the Internet: How Networks of Information and Communication are Changing Our Lives

How is society being shaped by the diffusion and increasing centrality of the Internet in everyday life and work? By bringing together leading research that addresses some of the most significant cultural, economic, and political roles of the Internet, this volume introduces students to a core set of readings that address this question in specific social and institutional contexts. Internet Studies is a burgeoning new field, which has been central to the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), an innovative multi-disciplinary department at the University of Oxford. Society and the Internet builds on the OII's evolving series of lectures on society and the Internet. The series has been edited to create a reader to supplement upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses that seek to introduce students to scholarship focused on the implications of the Internet for networked societies around the world. The chapters of the reader are rooted in a variety of disciplines, but all directly tackle the powerful ways in which the Internet is linked to political, social, cultural, and economic transformations in society. This book will be a starting point for anyone with a serious interest in the factors shaping the Internet and its impact on society. The book begins with an introduction by the editors, which provides a brief history of the Internet and Web and its study from multi-disciplinary perspectives. The chapters are grouped into six focused sections: The Internet and Everyday Life; Information and Culture on the Line; Networked Politics and Government; Networked Businesses, Industries, and Economies; and Technological and Regulatory Histories and Futures.

Table of Contents:
Manuel Castells: Foreword Mark Graham and William H. Dutton: Introduction Part I. Internet Studies Of Everyday Life 1: Aleks Krotoski: Inventing the Internet: Scapegoat, Sin Eater, and Trickster 2: Grant Blank And William Dutton: Next Generation Internet Users: A New Digital Divide 3: Bernie Hogan And Barry Wellman: The Conceptual Foundations of Social Network Sites and the Emergence of the Relational Self-Portrait 4: Victoria Nash: The Politics of Children s Internet Use 5: Lisa Nakamura: Gender and Race Online Part II. Information And Culture On The Line 6: Mark Graham: Internet Geographies: Data Shadows and Digital Divisions of Labour 7: Gillian Bolsover, William H. Dutton, Ginette Law, And Soumitra Dutta: China and the US in the New Internet World: A Comparative Perspective 8: Nic Newman, William H. Dutton, And Grant Blank: Social Media and the News: Implications for the Press and Society 9: Sung Wook Ji And David Waterman: The Impact of the Internet on Media Industries: An Economic Perspective 10: Ralph Schroeder: Big Data: Towards a More Scientific Social Science and Humanities? Part III. Networked Politics And Governments 11: Miriam Lips: Transforming Government by Default? 12: Stephen Coleman And Jay Blumler: The Wisdom of Which Crowd? On the Pathology of a Digital Democracy Initiative for a Listening Government 13: Sandra Gonzalez-Bailon: Online Social Networks and Bottom-up Politics 14: Helen Margetts, Scott A. Hale, Taha Yasseri: Big Data and Collective Action 15: Elizabeth Dubois And William H. Dutton: Empowering Citizens of the Internet Age: The Role of a Fifth Estate Part IV: Networked Businesses, Industries AND Economies 16: Greg Taylor: Scarcity of Attention for a Medium of Abundance: An Economic Perspective 17: Richard Susskind: The Internet in the Law: Transforming Problem-Solving and Education 18: Laura Mann: The Digital Divide and Employment: The Case of the Sudanese Labour Market 19: Mark Graham: A Critical Perspective on the Potential of the Internet at the Margins of the Global Economy Part V. Technological And Regulatory Histories And Futures 20: Eli M. Noam: Next-Generation Content for Next-Generation Networks 21: Christopher Millard: Data Privacy in the Clouds 22: Laura Denardis: The Social Media Challenge to Internet Governance 23: Yorick Wilks: Beyond the Internet and Web

About the Author :
Mark Graham is a geographer and a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute. He is a also the Director of Research at the Oxford Internet Institute and a Visiting Research Associate at the University of Oxford's School of Geography and the Environment. William H. Dutton is Professor of Internet Studies at the University of Oxford's Internet Institute, and a Professorial Fellow at Balliol College. He received a lifetime achievement award for his role as founding director of the OII, and the International Communication Association's Fred Williams prize for contributions to the study of communication and technology.

Review :
I highly recommend this first edition to students who need a comprehensive overview of the field of Internet Studies, or those who seek new ideas and perspectives from other Internet scholars.