The Internet is a critically important research site for sociologists
testing theories of technology diffusion and media effects, particularly
because it is a medium uniquely capable of integrating modes of communication
and forms of content. Current research tends to focus on the Internet's
implications in five domains: 1) inequality (the "digital divide");
2) community and social capital; 3) political participation; 4) organizations
and other economic institutions; and 5) cultural participation and
cultural diversity. A recurrent theme across domains is that the
Internet tends to complement rather than displace existing media
and patterns of behavior. Thus in each domain, utopian claims and
dystopic warnings based on extrapolations from technical possibilities
have given way to more nuanced and circumscribed understandings of
how Internet use adapts to existing patterns, permits certain innovations,
and reinforces particular kinds of change. Moreover, in each domain
the ultimate social implications of this new technology depend on
economic, legal, and policy decisions that are shaping the Internet
as it becomes institutionalized. Sociologists need to study the Internet
more actively and, particularly, to synthesize research findings
on individual user behavior with macroscopic analyses of institutional
and political-economic factors that constrain that behavior.
%0 Journal Article
%1 DiMaggio2001
%A DiMaggio, Paul
%A Hargittai, Eszter
%A Neuman, W. Russell
%A Robinson, John P
%D 2001
%J Annual Review of Sociology
%K imported
%P 307-336
%T Social Implications of the Internet
%U http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0360-0572\%282001\%2927\%3C307\%3ASIOTI\%3E2.0.CO\%3B2-S
%V 27
%X The Internet is a critically important research site for sociologists
testing theories of technology diffusion and media effects, particularly
because it is a medium uniquely capable of integrating modes of communication
and forms of content. Current research tends to focus on the Internet's
implications in five domains: 1) inequality (the "digital divide");
2) community and social capital; 3) political participation; 4) organizations
and other economic institutions; and 5) cultural participation and
cultural diversity. A recurrent theme across domains is that the
Internet tends to complement rather than displace existing media
and patterns of behavior. Thus in each domain, utopian claims and
dystopic warnings based on extrapolations from technical possibilities
have given way to more nuanced and circumscribed understandings of
how Internet use adapts to existing patterns, permits certain innovations,
and reinforces particular kinds of change. Moreover, in each domain
the ultimate social implications of this new technology depend on
economic, legal, and policy decisions that are shaping the Internet
as it becomes institutionalized. Sociologists need to study the Internet
more actively and, particularly, to synthesize research findings
on individual user behavior with macroscopic analyses of institutional
and political-economic factors that constrain that behavior.
@article{DiMaggio2001,
abstract = {The Internet is a critically important research site for sociologists
testing theories of technology diffusion and media effects, particularly
because it is a medium uniquely capable of integrating modes of communication
and forms of content. Current research tends to focus on the Internet's
implications in five domains: 1) inequality (the "digital divide");
2) community and social capital; 3) political participation; 4) organizations
and other economic institutions; and 5) cultural participation and
cultural diversity. A recurrent theme across domains is that the
Internet tends to complement rather than displace existing media
and patterns of behavior. Thus in each domain, utopian claims and
dystopic warnings based on extrapolations from technical possibilities
have given way to more nuanced and circumscribed understandings of
how Internet use adapts to existing patterns, permits certain innovations,
and reinforces particular kinds of change. Moreover, in each domain
the ultimate social implications of this new technology depend on
economic, legal, and policy decisions that are shaping the Internet
as it becomes institutionalized. Sociologists need to study the Internet
more actively and, particularly, to synthesize research findings
on individual user behavior with macroscopic analyses of institutional
and political-economic factors that constrain that behavior.},
added-at = {2007-07-13T21:21:25.000+0200},
author = {DiMaggio, Paul and Hargittai, Eszter and Neuman, W. Russell and Robinson, John P},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2748767b2f7bed464dfb72b9bb1f5f680/communautique},
comment = {zotero},
description = {Recherche inclusion},
interhash = {47fd91dc694ce72122817c2b144df44c},
intrahash = {748767b2f7bed464dfb72b9bb1f5f680},
issn = {03600572},
journal = {Annual Review of Sociology},
keywords = {imported},
owner = {simon},
pages = {307-336},
timestamp = {2007-07-13T21:21:27.000+0200},
title = {Social Implications of the Internet},
url = {http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0360-0572\%282001\%2927\%3C307\%3ASIOTI\%3E2.0.CO\%3B2-S},
volume = 27,
year = 2001
}