With great potential benefit and possible harm, online social media
platforms are transforming human society. Based on decades of deep
exploration, distinguished scholar William Sims Bainbridge surveys our
complex virtual society, harvesting insights about the future of our
real world. Many pilot studies demonstrate valuable research methods
and explanatory theories. Tracing membership interlocks between
Facebook groups can chart the structure of a social movement, like the
one devoted to future spaceflight development. Statistical data on the
roles played by people in massively multiplayer online games
illustrate the Silicon Law: information technology energizes both
freedom and control, in a dynamic balance. The significance of
open-source software suggests the traditional distinction between
professional and amateur may fade, whereas web-based conflicts between
religious and political groups imply that chasms are opening in civil
society. This analysis of online space and the divergent communities
is long overdue.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781108599696
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Vendor
Cambridge University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter