The Digital Social


Book Description

The edited volume aims to present a critical analysis of the current state of research on religion and belief systems in the realm of the ‘Digital Social’. The rapid expansion and democratization of digital technologies in conjunction with the significant shifts taking place within the practices of religion and belief through digital technology demand a critical examination across the social sciences and humanities. These changes call for an overview of not only our current methodological tool box but also the epistemological and ethical considerations that researchers must contend with. The proposed volume provides a critical framework that recognizes that the social, and therefore the religious, cannot be fully understood without recognizing how the digital world actively constitutes notions such as identity, social networks, embodiment, and social institutions. While some specific methods will be discussed, the volume’s emphasis remains on the critical epistemological and logistical considerations that are needed when undertaking this form of research.




Digital Social Studies


Book Description

The world is ever changing and the way students experience social studies should reflect the environment in which they live and learn. Digital Social Studies explores research, effective teaching strategies, and technologies for social studies practice in the digital age. The digital age of education is more prominent than ever and it is an appropriate time to examine the blending of the digital age and the field of social studies. What is digital social studies? Why do we need it and what is its purpose? What will social studies look like in the future? The contributing authors of this volume seek to explain, through an array of ideas and visions, what digital social studies can/should look like, while providing research and rationales for why digital social studies is needed and important. This volume includes twenty-two scholarly chapters discussing relevant topics of importance to digital social studies. The twenty-two chapters are divided into two sections. This stellar collection of writings includes contributions from leading scholars like Cheryl Mason Bolick, Michael Berson, Elizabeth Washington, Linda Bennett, and many more.




Technology and Social Inclusion


Book Description

Much of the discussion about new technologies and social equality has focused on the oversimplified notion of a "digital divide." Technology and Social Inclusion moves beyond the limited view of haves and have-nots to analyze the different forms of access to information and communication technologies. Drawing on theory from political science, economics, sociology, psychology, communications, education, and linguistics, the book examines the ways in which differing access to technology contributes to social and economic stratification or inclusion. The book takes a global perspective, presenting case studies from developed and developing countries, including Brazil, China, Egypt, India, and the United States. A central premise is that, in today's society, the ability to access, adapt, and create knowledge using information and communication technologies is critical to social inclusion. This focus on social inclusion shifts the discussion of the "digital divide" from gaps to be overcome by providing equipment to social development challenges to be addressed through the effective integration of technology into communities, institutions, and societies. What is most important is not so much the physical availability of computers and the Internet but rather people's ability to make use of those technologies to engage in meaningful social practices.




Digital Social Research


Book Description

To analyse social and behavioural phenomena in our digitalized world, it is necessary to understand the main research opportunities and challenges specific to online and digital data. This book presents an overview of the many techniques that are part of the fundamental toolbox of the digital social scientist. Placing online methods within the wider tradition of social research, Giuseppe Veltri discusses the principles and frameworks that underlie each technique of digital research. This practical guide covers methodological issues such as dealing with different types of digital data, construct validity, representativeness and big data sampling. It looks at different forms of unobtrusive data collection methods (such as web scraping and social media mining) as well as obtrusive methods (including qualitative methods, web surveys and experiments). Special extended attention is given to computational approaches to statistical analysis, text mining and network analysis. Digital Social Research will be a welcome resource for students and researchers across the social sciences and humanities carrying out digital research (or interested in the future of social research).




Digital and Social Media Marketing


Book Description

Digital and Social Media Marketing: A Results-Driven Approach is an exciting new industry-led, research-informed and results-driven guide to digital commerce. Its examples draw from SMEs and from Europe to offer a unique perspective for those learning about digital marketing and, having been developed in close collaboration with the Search Engine Marketing Trade Association (SEMTA), it is a reliable source of prevailing industry standards for practitioners at the cutting edge of their trade. Unlike other digital marketing texts, this accessible textbook gives special consideration to the ethical challenges raised by an increasingly digital world. Equally unique is the book’s Digital Business Maturity Model, which offers organisations a clear roadmap for understanding their relative levels of technology adoption. Embracing the true spirit of Digital and Social Media Marketing, the book will be the first of its kind in this field with digital learning materials, case studies and exercises available in a supporting Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). The MOOC will enhance learners’ experience and create an interactive international learning community. This book will provide a hands on, accessible and user friendly platform to turn skills and knowledge into strategic advantage. Ideal for postgraduate learners, instructors interested in providing a unique and up-to-date learning experience and for SMEs and practitioners aiming to be at the cutting edge of Digital and Social Media Marketing.




The Digital City


Book Description

Shows how digital media connects people to their lived environments Every day, millions of people turn to small handheld screens to search for their destinations and to seek recommendations for places to visit. They may share texts or images of themselves and these places en route or after their journey is complete. We don’t consciously reflect on these activities and probably don’t associate these practices with constructing a sense of place. Critics have argued that digital media alienates users from space and place, but this book argues that the exact opposite is true: that we habitually use digital technologies to re-embed ourselves within urban environments. The Digital City advocates for the need to rethink our everyday interactions with digital infrastructures, navigation technologies, and social media as we move through the world. Drawing on five case studies from global and mid-sized cities to illustrate the concept of “re-placeing,” Germaine R. Halegoua shows how different populations employ urban broadband networks, social and locative media platforms, digital navigation, smart cities, and creative placemaking initiatives to turn urban spaces into places with deep meanings and emotional attachments. Through timely narratives of everyday urban life, Halegoua argues that people use digital media to create a unique sense of place within rapidly changing urban environments and that a sense of place is integral to understanding contemporary relationships with digital media.




Books and Social Media


Book Description

Social media and digital technologies are transforming what and how we read. Books and Social Media considers the way in which readers and writers come together in digital communities to discover and create new works of fiction. This new way of engaging with fiction stretches the boundaries of what has been considered a book in the past by moving beyond the physical or even digitally bound object to the consideration of content, containers, and the ability to share. Using empirical data and up-to-date research methods, Miriam Johnson introduces the ways in which digitally social platforms give rise to a new type of citizen author who chooses to sidestep the industry’s gatekeepers and share their works directly with interested readers on social platforms. Gender and genre, especially, play a key role in developing the communities in which these authors write. The use of surveys, interviews, and data mining brings to the fore issues of gender, genre, community, and power, which highlight the push and pull between these writers and the industry. Questioning what we always thought we knew about what makes a book and traditional publishing channels, this book will be of interest to anyone studying or researching publishing, book history, print cultures, and digital and contemporary literatures.




Social Support and Health in the Digital Age


Book Description

Social Support and Health in the Digital Age discusses how theinformation age has revolutionized nearly every facet of human communication—from the ways in which people purchase products to how they meet and fall in love. These exciting new communication technologies can both unite and divide us. People who are separated by great distances can now communicate with each other in real time, whereas parents often find themselves competing with smartphones and tablets for their children’s attention. This book explores the many ways that digital communication media, such as online forums, social networking sites, and mobile applications, enhance and constrain social support in health-related contexts. We already know a great deal about how the Internet has altered how people search for health information, but less about how people seek and receive social support in this new age of information, which is critical for maintaining our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.




Social Work in a Digital Society


Book Description

This book will help students develop their understanding of how the internet is impacting on social work education and practice in 21st century. Essential reading for students interested in the influence of digital technology and social media, including the impact of digital divides, this book looks at how the value-base of social work can have a positive effect on service users and carers who engage with digital services.




Digital Social Work


Book Description

In a digitally powered society, social workers are frequently challenged to embrace new interventions and enhance existing strategies in order to effectively promote social justice. The cases in this volume present engaging examples of technology tools in use across micro, mezzo, and macro practice, thereby illuminating the knowledge, skills, and values required of those who practice social work 2.0.