Internet Society

Additional Book Details

`A highly topical, interesting and lively analysis of ordinary internet use, based on both theoretically competent reflections and sound ethnographic material′ - Joost van Loon, Reader in Social Theory at Nottingham Trent University</p>
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<p>Internet Society investigates internet use and it′s implications for society through insights into the daily experiences of ordinary users. Drawing on an original study of non-professional, ′ordinary′ users at home, this book examines how people interpret, domesticate and creatively appropriate the Internet by integrating it into the projects and activities of their everyday lives. </p>
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<p>Maria Bakardjieva′s theoretical framework uniquely combines concepts from several schools of thought (social constructivism, critical theory, phenomenological sociology) to provide a conception of the user as an agent in the field of technological development and new media shaping. She:</p>
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<p>- examines the evolution of the Internet into a mass medium</p>
<p>- interrogates what users make of this new communication medium</p>
<p>- evaluates the social and cultural role of the Internet by looking at the immediate level of users′ engagement with it</p>
<p>- exposes the dual life of technology as invader and captive; colonizer and colonized </p>
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<p>This book will appeal to academics and researchers in social studies of technology, communication and media studies, cultural studies, philosophy of technology and ethnography.