Digital media sociology
Table of Contents
Introductie .................................................................................................................................. 7
Sociologie ......................................................................................................................................................7
A digital media society ................................................................................................................................................ 7
Social structure & social positions and social roles ...................................................................................................... 7
Social structure & culture ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Digital media sociology ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Drie vragen gekoppeld aan 3 logica’s ............................................................................................................................ 8
Mediasociology vs mediapsychology vs mediastudies .................................................................................................. 8
Sociale structuur ........................................................................................................................ 9
Giddens’ structuration theory (1984) ...............................................................................................................9
Dualiteit van structuur................................................................................................................................................. 9
Relevantie ................................................................................................................................................................ 10
Duality of technology ................................................................................................................................... 10
Orlikowski’s (1992) duality of technology .................................................................................................................... 10
The structures of digital media: technological aBordances ............................................................................ 11
Digitale media........................................................................................................................................................... 11
Problemen ................................................................................................................................................................ 11
Functionele benadering: technologische aMordances ................................................................................................. 11
How do digital media aBect the social organization of society? ...................................................................... 12
Veranderde processen en routines ............................................................................................................................. 12
Network logic ............................................................................................................................. 13
Intro ............................................................................................................................................................ 13
Network society ........................................................................................................................................... 13
Historical transitions ................................................................................................................................................. 13
Networked society (Castells, 1996) ............................................................................................................................ 13
Technological paradigm ............................................................................................................................................ 14
Changes to the social order .......................................................................................................................... 16
Redefining space & time ............................................................................................................................................ 16
Space of flow ............................................................................................................................................................ 16
Timeless time ........................................................................................................................................................... 17
Giddens ................................................................................................................................................................... 18
A networked individual ................................................................................................................................. 19
Networked individualism ........................................................................................................................................... 19
Pre-modernity (agrarian society) ................................................................................................................................ 19
Modernity (industrial society) .................................................................................................................................... 19
From industrial to information capitalism ................................................................................................................... 20
Social implications ...................................................................................................................................... 21
Disembedding of social roles..................................................................................................................................... 21
Blurred boundaries ................................................................................................................................................... 21
1
, Networked individuals operating in hybrid spaces ......................................................................................... 22
Physical space as hybrid space ................................................................................................................................. 22
Opportunity but also obstacle ................................................................................................................................... 23
Rationalization & disintermediation ............................................................................................ 23
Rationalization ............................................................................................................................................. 23
Scientific rationality .................................................................................................................................................. 24
Enlightenment & scientific rationality ......................................................................................................................... 24
The age of enlightenment .......................................................................................................................................... 24
Rationalization.......................................................................................................................................................... 24
Bureaucracy ............................................................................................................................................................. 25
Rationalization and capitalism................................................................................................................................... 25
Instrumental rationality ............................................................................................................................................. 26
Disenchantment and alienation ................................................................................................................................. 27
Rationalization & the network logic: disintermediation .................................................................................. 27
Technology and rationalization .................................................................................................................................. 27
Disintermediation ..................................................................................................................................................... 28
Microcoordination .................................................................................................................................................... 29
Flexible alignment ..................................................................................................................................................... 29
Acceleration ............................................................................................................................................................. 30
Rationalization & the network logic: broader implications .............................................................................. 30
Implications for the military ....................................................................................................................................... 30
Implications for economies in the global south ........................................................................................................... 32
Acceleration .............................................................................................................................. 34
Hartmut Rosa............................................................................................................................................... 34
Critical theory & phenomenology ............................................................................................................................... 34
Acceleration theory (Rosa, 2003) ................................................................................................................... 34
Drie vormen van acceleration .................................................................................................................................... 35
Technological acceleration ........................................................................................................................................ 35
Acceleration of social change .................................................................................................................................... 36
Acceleration of the pace of life................................................................................................................................... 36
Acceleration cycle .................................................................................................................................................... 36
Existential fear .......................................................................................................................................................... 37
How technology speeds up the pace of life .................................................................................................... 37
Time compression and acceleration .......................................................................................................................... 37
Disembedding of social roles..................................................................................................................................... 38
Quantity & quality of our time .................................................................................................................................... 38
The burnout epidemic ............................................................................................................................................... 39
Example: connectivity (after work hours) ....................................................................................................... 39
Work-home interference ........................................................................................................................................... 39
Reduced recovery from work ..................................................................................................................................... 40
Information overload ................................................................................................................................................. 40
Resonance ................................................................................................................................................... 41
Accelerated society .................................................................................................................................................. 41
Aggression ................................................................................................................................................................ 41
Antidote: resonance .................................................................................................................................................. 42
2
, What makes “resonance” .......................................................................................................................................... 43
Digital wellbeing & disconnection ............................................................................................... 45
What is digital disconnection? ...................................................................................................................... 45
Voluntary disconnection ........................................................................................................................................... 45
Involuntary disconnection ......................................................................................................................................... 46
Grey zone ................................................................................................................................................................. 46
What is digital wellbeing? ............................................................................................................................. 48
Psychology perspective ............................................................................................................................................. 48
Ethical perspective ................................................................................................................................................... 49
Socio-political perspective ........................................................................................................................................ 50
Merging disconnection and wellbeing ........................................................................................................................ 50
Understanding digital wellbeing & disconnection through care....................................................................... 51
Care ......................................................................................................................................................................... 51
Challenges of care work ............................................................................................................................................ 52
Care & wellbeing ....................................................................................................................................................... 54
Cases .......................................................................................................................................................... 54
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................ 56
The internet paradox .................................................................................................................. 56
Social or antisocial? ..................................................................................................................................... 56
The homenet study ................................................................................................................................................... 57
Two central hypotheses ............................................................................................................................................. 57
Time displacement ...................................................................................................................................... 57
Displacement theory and time use ............................................................................................................................ 57
Displacement theory: 4 principles ............................................................................................................................. 58
Social displacement hypothesis ................................................................................................................................ 58
Cues-filtered-out ......................................................................................................................................... 59
Waarom is de digitale communicatie inferieur? .......................................................................................................... 59
CMC theories ........................................................................................................................................................... 59
CMC theories re-visited ................................................................................................................................ 61
Cues filtered in: SIP theory ........................................................................................................................................ 61
Walther, Loh & Granka (2005)..................................................................................................................................... 62
SIP theory and aMordances........................................................................................................................................ 63
Online self-disclosure ............................................................................................................................................... 64
The need to belong ..................................................................................................................... 64
Humans as social beings .............................................................................................................................. 64
The evolutionary need to belong ................................................................................................................................ 65
Functionalism........................................................................................................................................................... 66
Social relationships: a socio-historical lens .................................................................................................. 66
From gemeinschaft to gesellschaft ............................................................................................................................ 66
Our need to belong ................................................................................................................................................... 68
Giddens: the “pure” relationship ................................................................................................................................ 69
In sum ...................................................................................................................................................................... 70
3
, Connected presence .................................................................................................................................... 70
Apparatgeist theory ................................................................................................................................................... 70
Connected presence (Licoppe, 2004) ......................................................................................................................... 71
Interactional aMordances that support connected presence ....................................................................................... 71
Interactional aMordances & social shaping of the “apparatgeist” ................................................................................. 72
Connected presence & need to belong....................................................................................................................... 73
Rituals: phatic communication & gift-giving .................................................................................................. 73
Interaction rituals & the everyday life.......................................................................................................................... 73
Phatic communication and gift-giving ........................................................................................................................ 74
Example: ephemeral communication ............................................................................................................ 76
Persistence (Treem & Leonardi, 2012) ........................................................................................................................ 76
Ephemeral social media ............................................................................................................................................ 76
Digital gemeinschaft .................................................................................................................................... 78
In sum ...................................................................................................................................................................... 78
Social capital ............................................................................................................................. 78
Media as a threat to social capital ................................................................................................................. 79
Bowling Alone – Robert D. Putnam ............................................................................................................................. 79
What is social capital?.................................................................................................................................. 79
Perspectieven ........................................................................................................................................................... 79
Social capital as a resource (micro) ........................................................................................................................... 80
Social capital as social support (meso) ...................................................................................................................... 81
Social capital as norms & trust (macro) ...................................................................................................................... 82
Public vs private face of social capital ........................................................................................................................ 83
Social media, social capital? ........................................................................................................................ 83
Social media / social network sites (SNS) ................................................................................................................... 83
Social media aMordances (2010)................................................................................................................................ 84
Social media and private face of social capital .............................................................................................. 84
Bonding vs bridging ................................................................................................................................................... 84
SNS and tie strength? ................................................................................................................................................ 84
“Maintaned” social capital ........................................................................................................................................ 85
Bonding, bridging & maintened .................................................................................................................................. 86
Oplossing: active vs passive use? .............................................................................................................................. 86
Social media, or social tv? ......................................................................................................................................... 87
Social media and public face of social capital ............................................................................................... 87
Reminder: public face of social capital....................................................................................................................... 87
Cyberbalkanization ................................................................................................................................................... 88
Floating worlds (Gergen, 2002) .................................................................................................................................. 89
Bounded solidarity .................................................................................................................................................... 90
Datafication, dataism & dataveillance......................................................................................... 90
Digitization & shifting perspectives on the user ............................................................................................. 90
Cross-device personalization .................................................................................................................................... 90
User-generated content............................................................................................................................................. 91
From a “modern” to a “late modern” consumer .......................................................................................................... 92
The personal logic ..................................................................................................................................................... 93
4
, Critical perspectives on datafication (Meijas & Couldry, 2019)..................................................................................... 93
Political economy: datafication, dataism & dataveillance .............................................................................. 94
Digital traces ............................................................................................................................................................ 94
Datafication .............................................................................................................................................................. 95
Dataism ................................................................................................................................................................... 96
Social media and the problem of dataveillance and (addictive) design ............................................................ 97
Behavioral design en addictive design ........................................................................................................................ 97
Surveillance capitalism ............................................................................................................................................. 98
Addictive design: two concurrent mechanisms......................................................................................................... 100
Information asymmetry ........................................................................................................................................... 101
EU’s digital services act ........................................................................................................................................... 101
Dataveillance............................................................................................................................................. 102
Dataveillance ......................................................................................................................................................... 102
Dataveillance & surveillance capitalism ................................................................................................................... 103
Legal: misuse and liability .......................................................................................................................... 103
Reactie van sociale mediabedrijven ......................................................................................................................... 104
Who is responsible? ................................................................................................................................................ 104
The quantified self? .................................................................................................................. 105
Political economy GenAI............................................................................................................................. 105
Economic logic ....................................................................................................................................................... 105
Legal: “misuse” and liability ....................................................................................................................... 105
Safe harbour principle ............................................................................................................................................. 106
Probleem bij GenAI ................................................................................................................................................. 106
Liability................................................................................................................................................................... 106
The EU AI Act: a risk-approach ................................................................................................................................. 107
The unaddressed problem: GenAI & the problem of representation .............................................................. 108
Representational harms .......................................................................................................................................... 109
GenAI & politics of invisibility ................................................................................................................................... 109
In sum: politiek van (in-)visibility .............................................................................................................................. 109
De(-colonialism) ........................................................................................................................................ 110
Nieuwe focus in het debat ....................................................................................................................................... 110
Link met representational harm ............................................................................................................................... 110
Onzichtbare arbeid achter GenAI ............................................................................................................................. 110
Self tracking for health ............................................................................................................. 110
Intro: the quantified self ............................................................................................................................. 110
Datafying health...................................................................................................................................................... 110
The quantified self movement.................................................................................................................................. 111
A history of self-measurement ................................................................................................................................. 112
External measurement and self-knowledge .............................................................................................................. 112
Self-tracking technologies .......................................................................................................................... 113
Weighing scale vs digital self-tracking: aMordances .................................................................................................. 113
Self-tracking technologies & digital labor ................................................................................................................. 114
Tension 1: empowerment vs disempowerment ............................................................................................ 115
5
, Remember: modernity & enlightenment ................................................................................................................... 115
Self-improvement: the self as a reflexive project ....................................................................................................... 115
Empowerment ........................................................................................................................................... 117
Moderniteit en het zelf als project ............................................................................................................................ 117
Empowerment: a self-determination approach ........................................................................................................ 118
Does self-tracking empower? .................................................................................................................................. 119
Disempowerment ...................................................................................................................................... 120
Surf-surveillance & self-discipline? .......................................................................................................................... 120
A Foucauldian perspective on power ........................................................................................................................ 120
Practices of self-surveillance and self-discipline ...................................................................................................... 123
Further tensions…knowledge is produced (power = knowledge) ................................................................................ 124
Tension 2: the politics of measurement & the reification of bodily experience ............................................... 124
The politics of measurement ................................................................................................................................... 124
Reification .............................................................................................................................................................. 126
Resistance ............................................................................................................................................................. 127
Tension 3: improving vs eroding health care ................................................................................................. 128
Personalized health care (PHC)................................................................................................................................ 128
Withdrawal of the state? .......................................................................................................................................... 129
Self-tracking supports a neo-liberalist agenda .......................................................................................................... 130
LLMs as personal digital assistants ........................................................................................... 132
From bots to chatbots to humanoid robots ............................................................................................................... 132
Digital assistants vs digital companions ................................................................................................................... 132
The social logic: can we relate to a robot?.................................................................................................... 133
The digital companion ............................................................................................................................................. 134
Anthropomorphism ................................................................................................................................................. 134
What makes social robots “human-like”? ................................................................................................................. 135
What makes digital companion “human-like”? ......................................................................................................... 137
Turing Test .............................................................................................................................................................. 138
Repercussions for our social relationships? ............................................................................................................. 139
Loss of relational authenticity, harm of dehumanization? ............................................................................ 141
Pygmalion & Galatea ............................................................................................................................................... 141
Humanization of AI = dehumanization? .................................................................................................................... 142
AI in relation tot he self: thwarted values ..................................................................................................... 143
Rationalisering ........................................................................................................................................................ 143
Korte termijn vs lange termijn impact ....................................................................................................................... 144
GenAI als empowerment ......................................................................................................................................... 144
6
,Introductie
We nemen het als vanzelfsprekend dat technologieën bestaan.
Sociologie
Sociologie stelt vragen zoals:
• Hoe organiseren we dingen?
• Waarom organiseren we ze op die manier?
• Hoe heeft de samenleving zich ontwikkeld?
à Dit alles is belangrijk, want sociologie bestudeert de sociale organisatie van de samenleving. Ze onderzoekt: hoe
leven mensen samen? Welke kansen en problemen ontstaan daaruit?
Centrale vragen draaien rond:
• Sociale orde (en sociale cohesie)
• Sociale ongelijkheid, in materiële en symbolische zin
• Identiteit, zowel als groep als individu
<-> In tegenstelling tot de psychologie, die focust op individuele cognitie, emotie en gedrag.
A digital media society
We vragen ons af: hoe beïnvloeden digitale media de sociale orde?
Hoe zijn digitale media betrokken bij:
• “De manier waarop we dingen doen”
= sociale orde
• Het verstoren of reproduceren van macht
= sociale ongelijkheid
• Het vormgeven van betekenis
= identiteit
Dit analyseren we op 2 niveaus:
1. Microniveau: veranderingen in onze dagelijkse praktijken, de manier waarop we dingen doen
2. Macroniveau: veranderingen in maatschappelijke instituties en institutionalisering
Social structure & social positions and social roles
Sociale structuur
= de georganiseerde patronen van relaties, regels en regelarrangementen die bepalen hoe mensen met elkaar
omgaan en samenleven.
Belangrijk
Georganiseerd ≠ formeel
• Arrangementen van regels in gevestigde systemen -> sociale instituties
• Arrangementen van relaties/interacties -> sociale posities
Hoe meer iets geïnstitutionaliseerd is, hoe meer het georganiseerd is.
à Soms zijn er formele regels, soms niet (bv sociale structuur Mean Girls) à allerlei sociale posities
7
, Platformeconomie als opkomende sociale institutie
• Sociale ongelijkheid: zelfstandige of werknemer?
• Sociale identiteit: brand ambassadeurs of algoritmische slaven?
Social structure & culture
Structuur verwijst naar hoe dingen georganiseerd zijn. Cultuur verwijst naar wat met die structuur gepaard gaat.
à Ze zijn sterk met elkaar verbonden.
Cultuur
= een gedeelde set van overtuigingen, normen, gedragingen, waarden, symbolen, rituelen, attitudes, …
De link tussen cultuur en sociale structuur
• Waarden en overtuigingen vormen krachten die de sociale orde beïnvloeden
• Normen zijn verwachtingen over hoe men zich hoort te gedragen
• Praktijken zijn gedragspatronen die normatief verwacht worden bij bepaalde sociale posities
= sociale rollen
• Rituelen zijn gehabitualiseerde gedragen en kunnen symbolische objecten bevatten (objecten die betekenis
en waarde dragen)
Digital media sociology
De voorbije 2 decennia hebben digitale media een diepe impact gehad op de sociale organisatie van de
samenleving.
Omdat digitale media zo vanzelfsprekend zijn geworden, zien we die impact vaak niet meer.
à Digital media sociology wil deze vanzelfsprekendheid doorbreken.
Hoe beïnvloedt digitalisering:
• Onze dagelijkse praktijken (microniveau)?
• Onze sociale instituties en de sociale orde (macroniveau)?
Drie vragen gekoppeld aan 3 logica’s
1. Is 24/7 connectiviteit een zegen of een last? (network logic)
2. Maken sociale media ons meer of minder sociaal? (social logic)
3. Maakt dataficatie ons sterker of juist machtelozer? (personal logic)
Drie analytische dimensies
• Socio-historische verandering: hoe zijn we hier gekomen?
• Microniveau: wat zijn de implicaties voor het dagelijks
leven?
• Macroniveau: wat zijn de bredere maatschappelijke
implicaties?
Mediasociology vs mediapsychology vs mediastudies
• Mediasociologie: hoe media de sociale organisatie van de samenleving beïnvloeden
• Mediapsychologie: hoe media individuele cognitie, emotie en gedrag beïnvloeden
• Mediastudies: de media-industrie in relatie tot media-gebruikers en publieken
8
Table of Contents
Introductie .................................................................................................................................. 7
Sociologie ......................................................................................................................................................7
A digital media society ................................................................................................................................................ 7
Social structure & social positions and social roles ...................................................................................................... 7
Social structure & culture ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Digital media sociology ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Drie vragen gekoppeld aan 3 logica’s ............................................................................................................................ 8
Mediasociology vs mediapsychology vs mediastudies .................................................................................................. 8
Sociale structuur ........................................................................................................................ 9
Giddens’ structuration theory (1984) ...............................................................................................................9
Dualiteit van structuur................................................................................................................................................. 9
Relevantie ................................................................................................................................................................ 10
Duality of technology ................................................................................................................................... 10
Orlikowski’s (1992) duality of technology .................................................................................................................... 10
The structures of digital media: technological aBordances ............................................................................ 11
Digitale media........................................................................................................................................................... 11
Problemen ................................................................................................................................................................ 11
Functionele benadering: technologische aMordances ................................................................................................. 11
How do digital media aBect the social organization of society? ...................................................................... 12
Veranderde processen en routines ............................................................................................................................. 12
Network logic ............................................................................................................................. 13
Intro ............................................................................................................................................................ 13
Network society ........................................................................................................................................... 13
Historical transitions ................................................................................................................................................. 13
Networked society (Castells, 1996) ............................................................................................................................ 13
Technological paradigm ............................................................................................................................................ 14
Changes to the social order .......................................................................................................................... 16
Redefining space & time ............................................................................................................................................ 16
Space of flow ............................................................................................................................................................ 16
Timeless time ........................................................................................................................................................... 17
Giddens ................................................................................................................................................................... 18
A networked individual ................................................................................................................................. 19
Networked individualism ........................................................................................................................................... 19
Pre-modernity (agrarian society) ................................................................................................................................ 19
Modernity (industrial society) .................................................................................................................................... 19
From industrial to information capitalism ................................................................................................................... 20
Social implications ...................................................................................................................................... 21
Disembedding of social roles..................................................................................................................................... 21
Blurred boundaries ................................................................................................................................................... 21
1
, Networked individuals operating in hybrid spaces ......................................................................................... 22
Physical space as hybrid space ................................................................................................................................. 22
Opportunity but also obstacle ................................................................................................................................... 23
Rationalization & disintermediation ............................................................................................ 23
Rationalization ............................................................................................................................................. 23
Scientific rationality .................................................................................................................................................. 24
Enlightenment & scientific rationality ......................................................................................................................... 24
The age of enlightenment .......................................................................................................................................... 24
Rationalization.......................................................................................................................................................... 24
Bureaucracy ............................................................................................................................................................. 25
Rationalization and capitalism................................................................................................................................... 25
Instrumental rationality ............................................................................................................................................. 26
Disenchantment and alienation ................................................................................................................................. 27
Rationalization & the network logic: disintermediation .................................................................................. 27
Technology and rationalization .................................................................................................................................. 27
Disintermediation ..................................................................................................................................................... 28
Microcoordination .................................................................................................................................................... 29
Flexible alignment ..................................................................................................................................................... 29
Acceleration ............................................................................................................................................................. 30
Rationalization & the network logic: broader implications .............................................................................. 30
Implications for the military ....................................................................................................................................... 30
Implications for economies in the global south ........................................................................................................... 32
Acceleration .............................................................................................................................. 34
Hartmut Rosa............................................................................................................................................... 34
Critical theory & phenomenology ............................................................................................................................... 34
Acceleration theory (Rosa, 2003) ................................................................................................................... 34
Drie vormen van acceleration .................................................................................................................................... 35
Technological acceleration ........................................................................................................................................ 35
Acceleration of social change .................................................................................................................................... 36
Acceleration of the pace of life................................................................................................................................... 36
Acceleration cycle .................................................................................................................................................... 36
Existential fear .......................................................................................................................................................... 37
How technology speeds up the pace of life .................................................................................................... 37
Time compression and acceleration .......................................................................................................................... 37
Disembedding of social roles..................................................................................................................................... 38
Quantity & quality of our time .................................................................................................................................... 38
The burnout epidemic ............................................................................................................................................... 39
Example: connectivity (after work hours) ....................................................................................................... 39
Work-home interference ........................................................................................................................................... 39
Reduced recovery from work ..................................................................................................................................... 40
Information overload ................................................................................................................................................. 40
Resonance ................................................................................................................................................... 41
Accelerated society .................................................................................................................................................. 41
Aggression ................................................................................................................................................................ 41
Antidote: resonance .................................................................................................................................................. 42
2
, What makes “resonance” .......................................................................................................................................... 43
Digital wellbeing & disconnection ............................................................................................... 45
What is digital disconnection? ...................................................................................................................... 45
Voluntary disconnection ........................................................................................................................................... 45
Involuntary disconnection ......................................................................................................................................... 46
Grey zone ................................................................................................................................................................. 46
What is digital wellbeing? ............................................................................................................................. 48
Psychology perspective ............................................................................................................................................. 48
Ethical perspective ................................................................................................................................................... 49
Socio-political perspective ........................................................................................................................................ 50
Merging disconnection and wellbeing ........................................................................................................................ 50
Understanding digital wellbeing & disconnection through care....................................................................... 51
Care ......................................................................................................................................................................... 51
Challenges of care work ............................................................................................................................................ 52
Care & wellbeing ....................................................................................................................................................... 54
Cases .......................................................................................................................................................... 54
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................ 56
The internet paradox .................................................................................................................. 56
Social or antisocial? ..................................................................................................................................... 56
The homenet study ................................................................................................................................................... 57
Two central hypotheses ............................................................................................................................................. 57
Time displacement ...................................................................................................................................... 57
Displacement theory and time use ............................................................................................................................ 57
Displacement theory: 4 principles ............................................................................................................................. 58
Social displacement hypothesis ................................................................................................................................ 58
Cues-filtered-out ......................................................................................................................................... 59
Waarom is de digitale communicatie inferieur? .......................................................................................................... 59
CMC theories ........................................................................................................................................................... 59
CMC theories re-visited ................................................................................................................................ 61
Cues filtered in: SIP theory ........................................................................................................................................ 61
Walther, Loh & Granka (2005)..................................................................................................................................... 62
SIP theory and aMordances........................................................................................................................................ 63
Online self-disclosure ............................................................................................................................................... 64
The need to belong ..................................................................................................................... 64
Humans as social beings .............................................................................................................................. 64
The evolutionary need to belong ................................................................................................................................ 65
Functionalism........................................................................................................................................................... 66
Social relationships: a socio-historical lens .................................................................................................. 66
From gemeinschaft to gesellschaft ............................................................................................................................ 66
Our need to belong ................................................................................................................................................... 68
Giddens: the “pure” relationship ................................................................................................................................ 69
In sum ...................................................................................................................................................................... 70
3
, Connected presence .................................................................................................................................... 70
Apparatgeist theory ................................................................................................................................................... 70
Connected presence (Licoppe, 2004) ......................................................................................................................... 71
Interactional aMordances that support connected presence ....................................................................................... 71
Interactional aMordances & social shaping of the “apparatgeist” ................................................................................. 72
Connected presence & need to belong....................................................................................................................... 73
Rituals: phatic communication & gift-giving .................................................................................................. 73
Interaction rituals & the everyday life.......................................................................................................................... 73
Phatic communication and gift-giving ........................................................................................................................ 74
Example: ephemeral communication ............................................................................................................ 76
Persistence (Treem & Leonardi, 2012) ........................................................................................................................ 76
Ephemeral social media ............................................................................................................................................ 76
Digital gemeinschaft .................................................................................................................................... 78
In sum ...................................................................................................................................................................... 78
Social capital ............................................................................................................................. 78
Media as a threat to social capital ................................................................................................................. 79
Bowling Alone – Robert D. Putnam ............................................................................................................................. 79
What is social capital?.................................................................................................................................. 79
Perspectieven ........................................................................................................................................................... 79
Social capital as a resource (micro) ........................................................................................................................... 80
Social capital as social support (meso) ...................................................................................................................... 81
Social capital as norms & trust (macro) ...................................................................................................................... 82
Public vs private face of social capital ........................................................................................................................ 83
Social media, social capital? ........................................................................................................................ 83
Social media / social network sites (SNS) ................................................................................................................... 83
Social media aMordances (2010)................................................................................................................................ 84
Social media and private face of social capital .............................................................................................. 84
Bonding vs bridging ................................................................................................................................................... 84
SNS and tie strength? ................................................................................................................................................ 84
“Maintaned” social capital ........................................................................................................................................ 85
Bonding, bridging & maintened .................................................................................................................................. 86
Oplossing: active vs passive use? .............................................................................................................................. 86
Social media, or social tv? ......................................................................................................................................... 87
Social media and public face of social capital ............................................................................................... 87
Reminder: public face of social capital....................................................................................................................... 87
Cyberbalkanization ................................................................................................................................................... 88
Floating worlds (Gergen, 2002) .................................................................................................................................. 89
Bounded solidarity .................................................................................................................................................... 90
Datafication, dataism & dataveillance......................................................................................... 90
Digitization & shifting perspectives on the user ............................................................................................. 90
Cross-device personalization .................................................................................................................................... 90
User-generated content............................................................................................................................................. 91
From a “modern” to a “late modern” consumer .......................................................................................................... 92
The personal logic ..................................................................................................................................................... 93
4
, Critical perspectives on datafication (Meijas & Couldry, 2019)..................................................................................... 93
Political economy: datafication, dataism & dataveillance .............................................................................. 94
Digital traces ............................................................................................................................................................ 94
Datafication .............................................................................................................................................................. 95
Dataism ................................................................................................................................................................... 96
Social media and the problem of dataveillance and (addictive) design ............................................................ 97
Behavioral design en addictive design ........................................................................................................................ 97
Surveillance capitalism ............................................................................................................................................. 98
Addictive design: two concurrent mechanisms......................................................................................................... 100
Information asymmetry ........................................................................................................................................... 101
EU’s digital services act ........................................................................................................................................... 101
Dataveillance............................................................................................................................................. 102
Dataveillance ......................................................................................................................................................... 102
Dataveillance & surveillance capitalism ................................................................................................................... 103
Legal: misuse and liability .......................................................................................................................... 103
Reactie van sociale mediabedrijven ......................................................................................................................... 104
Who is responsible? ................................................................................................................................................ 104
The quantified self? .................................................................................................................. 105
Political economy GenAI............................................................................................................................. 105
Economic logic ....................................................................................................................................................... 105
Legal: “misuse” and liability ....................................................................................................................... 105
Safe harbour principle ............................................................................................................................................. 106
Probleem bij GenAI ................................................................................................................................................. 106
Liability................................................................................................................................................................... 106
The EU AI Act: a risk-approach ................................................................................................................................. 107
The unaddressed problem: GenAI & the problem of representation .............................................................. 108
Representational harms .......................................................................................................................................... 109
GenAI & politics of invisibility ................................................................................................................................... 109
In sum: politiek van (in-)visibility .............................................................................................................................. 109
De(-colonialism) ........................................................................................................................................ 110
Nieuwe focus in het debat ....................................................................................................................................... 110
Link met representational harm ............................................................................................................................... 110
Onzichtbare arbeid achter GenAI ............................................................................................................................. 110
Self tracking for health ............................................................................................................. 110
Intro: the quantified self ............................................................................................................................. 110
Datafying health...................................................................................................................................................... 110
The quantified self movement.................................................................................................................................. 111
A history of self-measurement ................................................................................................................................. 112
External measurement and self-knowledge .............................................................................................................. 112
Self-tracking technologies .......................................................................................................................... 113
Weighing scale vs digital self-tracking: aMordances .................................................................................................. 113
Self-tracking technologies & digital labor ................................................................................................................. 114
Tension 1: empowerment vs disempowerment ............................................................................................ 115
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, Remember: modernity & enlightenment ................................................................................................................... 115
Self-improvement: the self as a reflexive project ....................................................................................................... 115
Empowerment ........................................................................................................................................... 117
Moderniteit en het zelf als project ............................................................................................................................ 117
Empowerment: a self-determination approach ........................................................................................................ 118
Does self-tracking empower? .................................................................................................................................. 119
Disempowerment ...................................................................................................................................... 120
Surf-surveillance & self-discipline? .......................................................................................................................... 120
A Foucauldian perspective on power ........................................................................................................................ 120
Practices of self-surveillance and self-discipline ...................................................................................................... 123
Further tensions…knowledge is produced (power = knowledge) ................................................................................ 124
Tension 2: the politics of measurement & the reification of bodily experience ............................................... 124
The politics of measurement ................................................................................................................................... 124
Reification .............................................................................................................................................................. 126
Resistance ............................................................................................................................................................. 127
Tension 3: improving vs eroding health care ................................................................................................. 128
Personalized health care (PHC)................................................................................................................................ 128
Withdrawal of the state? .......................................................................................................................................... 129
Self-tracking supports a neo-liberalist agenda .......................................................................................................... 130
LLMs as personal digital assistants ........................................................................................... 132
From bots to chatbots to humanoid robots ............................................................................................................... 132
Digital assistants vs digital companions ................................................................................................................... 132
The social logic: can we relate to a robot?.................................................................................................... 133
The digital companion ............................................................................................................................................. 134
Anthropomorphism ................................................................................................................................................. 134
What makes social robots “human-like”? ................................................................................................................. 135
What makes digital companion “human-like”? ......................................................................................................... 137
Turing Test .............................................................................................................................................................. 138
Repercussions for our social relationships? ............................................................................................................. 139
Loss of relational authenticity, harm of dehumanization? ............................................................................ 141
Pygmalion & Galatea ............................................................................................................................................... 141
Humanization of AI = dehumanization? .................................................................................................................... 142
AI in relation tot he self: thwarted values ..................................................................................................... 143
Rationalisering ........................................................................................................................................................ 143
Korte termijn vs lange termijn impact ....................................................................................................................... 144
GenAI als empowerment ......................................................................................................................................... 144
6
,Introductie
We nemen het als vanzelfsprekend dat technologieën bestaan.
Sociologie
Sociologie stelt vragen zoals:
• Hoe organiseren we dingen?
• Waarom organiseren we ze op die manier?
• Hoe heeft de samenleving zich ontwikkeld?
à Dit alles is belangrijk, want sociologie bestudeert de sociale organisatie van de samenleving. Ze onderzoekt: hoe
leven mensen samen? Welke kansen en problemen ontstaan daaruit?
Centrale vragen draaien rond:
• Sociale orde (en sociale cohesie)
• Sociale ongelijkheid, in materiële en symbolische zin
• Identiteit, zowel als groep als individu
<-> In tegenstelling tot de psychologie, die focust op individuele cognitie, emotie en gedrag.
A digital media society
We vragen ons af: hoe beïnvloeden digitale media de sociale orde?
Hoe zijn digitale media betrokken bij:
• “De manier waarop we dingen doen”
= sociale orde
• Het verstoren of reproduceren van macht
= sociale ongelijkheid
• Het vormgeven van betekenis
= identiteit
Dit analyseren we op 2 niveaus:
1. Microniveau: veranderingen in onze dagelijkse praktijken, de manier waarop we dingen doen
2. Macroniveau: veranderingen in maatschappelijke instituties en institutionalisering
Social structure & social positions and social roles
Sociale structuur
= de georganiseerde patronen van relaties, regels en regelarrangementen die bepalen hoe mensen met elkaar
omgaan en samenleven.
Belangrijk
Georganiseerd ≠ formeel
• Arrangementen van regels in gevestigde systemen -> sociale instituties
• Arrangementen van relaties/interacties -> sociale posities
Hoe meer iets geïnstitutionaliseerd is, hoe meer het georganiseerd is.
à Soms zijn er formele regels, soms niet (bv sociale structuur Mean Girls) à allerlei sociale posities
7
, Platformeconomie als opkomende sociale institutie
• Sociale ongelijkheid: zelfstandige of werknemer?
• Sociale identiteit: brand ambassadeurs of algoritmische slaven?
Social structure & culture
Structuur verwijst naar hoe dingen georganiseerd zijn. Cultuur verwijst naar wat met die structuur gepaard gaat.
à Ze zijn sterk met elkaar verbonden.
Cultuur
= een gedeelde set van overtuigingen, normen, gedragingen, waarden, symbolen, rituelen, attitudes, …
De link tussen cultuur en sociale structuur
• Waarden en overtuigingen vormen krachten die de sociale orde beïnvloeden
• Normen zijn verwachtingen over hoe men zich hoort te gedragen
• Praktijken zijn gedragspatronen die normatief verwacht worden bij bepaalde sociale posities
= sociale rollen
• Rituelen zijn gehabitualiseerde gedragen en kunnen symbolische objecten bevatten (objecten die betekenis
en waarde dragen)
Digital media sociology
De voorbije 2 decennia hebben digitale media een diepe impact gehad op de sociale organisatie van de
samenleving.
Omdat digitale media zo vanzelfsprekend zijn geworden, zien we die impact vaak niet meer.
à Digital media sociology wil deze vanzelfsprekendheid doorbreken.
Hoe beïnvloedt digitalisering:
• Onze dagelijkse praktijken (microniveau)?
• Onze sociale instituties en de sociale orde (macroniveau)?
Drie vragen gekoppeld aan 3 logica’s
1. Is 24/7 connectiviteit een zegen of een last? (network logic)
2. Maken sociale media ons meer of minder sociaal? (social logic)
3. Maakt dataficatie ons sterker of juist machtelozer? (personal logic)
Drie analytische dimensies
• Socio-historische verandering: hoe zijn we hier gekomen?
• Microniveau: wat zijn de implicaties voor het dagelijks
leven?
• Macroniveau: wat zijn de bredere maatschappelijke
implicaties?
Mediasociology vs mediapsychology vs mediastudies
• Mediasociologie: hoe media de sociale organisatie van de samenleving beïnvloeden
• Mediapsychologie: hoe media individuele cognitie, emotie en gedrag beïnvloeden
• Mediastudies: de media-industrie in relatie tot media-gebruikers en publieken
8
