Digital sociology

Abstract

Digital sociology provides a means by which the impact, development, and use of computerised technologies, and their incorporation into social worlds and concepts of selfhood, may be investigated, analysed, and understood. There is a long tradition, not only in sociology but also in media and cultural studies, cultural geography, and anthropology, of researching how users interact with digital media. Susan Halford and Mike Savage note that the ‘digital divide’ literature tends to assume that providing more or better access to digital technologies will in itself solve problems of social disadvantage, when access is not the only issue involved in the phenomenon of digital social disadvantage. While some digital data analysis involves expensive software and programming skills or training in how to use the software, there are several free (‘open’) web harvesting and visualisation tools that are easy to use.