The Internet and Social and New Media: Decoding the Digital Age

Welcome to one of the most exciting and relevant chapters in modern Sociology! In this section, we’re moving beyond traditional media (like newspapers and television) to explore the radical impact of the internet and social media on how we communicate, form identities, and exercise power.

Understanding this topic is crucial because technology isn't just a tool; it's a fundamental force shaping global society, social relationships, and even our mental health. Don't worry if these concepts seem tricky—we will break down the key sociological aspects using clear examples.


Quick Review Box: New vs. Traditional Media

The key difference is interactivity and speed. Traditional media (TV, radio) is generally one-way communication (broadcasting). New media (social platforms, blogs) is two-way, allowing instant feedback and audience contribution.

1. The Internet: Fast Global Access and Communication

The core sociological function of the internet (and new media) is its ability to facilitate fast global access to information.

This massive, instant reach changes social structures in several key ways:

a) Changes in Communication (3.2.3.3)
  • Speed and Instantaneity: Communication is no longer limited by geographical distance or time zones. We can speak to someone on the other side of the world instantly.
  • Asynchronous vs. Synchronous: Much online communication is asynchronous (not happening in real-time, like emails or forum posts), allowing interactions to be structured differently than face-to-face talk.
  • Globalisation of Culture: Social media platforms allow cultural ideas, trends, and languages to spread rapidly across borders, increasing cultural globalisation.
b) Social Media and Mental Health (3.2.3.3)

Sociologists study both the benefits and the significant costs of constant connection.

  • The Positives: Social media can build support networks, connect diasporic communities, and facilitate political organisation (e.g., social movements).
  • The Negatives: Constant exposure to highly curated versions of others' lives can lead to social comparison, anxiety, and depression. The pressure to maintain an online identity (or 'brand') can be stressful.
  • Did You Know? Research often finds a link between heavy social media use and increased feelings of loneliness, despite users being constantly 'connected'.

KEY TAKEAWAY: The internet accelerates globalisation and radically alters the speed and nature of social interaction, creating both new opportunities for connection and new challenges for mental well-being.


2. Power, Ownership, and the Threat of Fake News

A crucial sociological question is: Who controls the flow of information in this new environment? (3.2.3.3)

a) Ownership and Control of New and Social Media

Unlike early hopes that the internet would be completely decentralised and democratic, ownership of the most powerful social media platforms (like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) is highly concentrated among a few major multinational corporations (often called "Big Tech").

  • These platforms operate globally, giving a small number of executives massive influence over public discourse, political campaigns, and global information access.
  • Their business models rely on gathering data (user information), which gives them immense economic and social power.
b) Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories

Because the internet allows anyone to publish anything, the quality and truthfulness of information often decline. This is a major area of study for sociologists, particularly concerning social control and social disorder.

Step-by-Step Distinction:

  1. Misinformation: Information that is false, but the person spreading it genuinely believes it to be true (it’s a mistake). Example: Sharing a rumour you heard about a politician that turns out to be wrong.
  2. Disinformation: Information that is deliberately fabricated and spread to deceive, manipulate, or cause harm. This is intentional deception. Example: A foreign state creating fake accounts to spread divisive lies during an election.
  3. Conspiracy Theories: These are narratives (stories) that attribute a socially significant event to secret plots by powerful or malevolent groups. Social media provides perfect echo chambers for these theories to flourish (e.g., anti-vaccination groups, flat-earth theories), often leading to social polarisation.

SOCIOLOGIST ALERT: Researchers like Uscinski focus heavily on how conspiracy theories gain traction and impact public life, especially when amplified by digital platforms.

KEY TAKEAWAY: Despite the apparent openness of the internet, power is concentrated in the hands of a few tech corporations. This lack of centralized regulation makes the spread of deliberate deception (disinformation) a major threat to social harmony and democracy.


3. The Audience Strikes Back: Involvement and Influence

In the age of social media, the relationship between media producers and the audience has fundamentally changed (3.2.3.3).

a) Greater Audience Involvement

Unlike traditional media, where the audience was largely passive (like watching a TV show), new media users are now active participants. They are both consumers and producers of content.

  • Content Creators: Individuals who generate videos, blogs, podcasts, and other media that compete with traditional output. This democratises the means of production—you don't need a multi-million dollar studio to reach millions.
  • Citizen Journalists: Ordinary people who capture and report news events using their smartphones and social media accounts. This often bypasses traditional news filters and can be crucial during civil unrest or natural disasters.
b) The Rise of Social Media Influencers

Influencers are individuals who build large followings based on their perceived credibility or expertise in a specific niche (fashion, gaming, politics). They represent a new form of opinion leader.

  • Sponsorship and Consumption: Influencers have become central to modern consumerism, promoting goods and services directly to highly targeted audiences.
  • Shifting Power: Their power can rival that of traditional celebrities or media corporations, showing how status and influence are constructed differently in the digital age.

KEY TAKEAWAY: Social media empowers the audience, transforming passive consumers into active prosumers (producers + consumers), most visibly through content creation and the rise of the influencer economy.


4. Digital Technologies, Inequality, and Control

This section incorporates important aspects from the broader digital technology syllabus (3.2.3.4).

a) Inequalities in Access: The Digital Divide

While the internet is global, access is not universal. The Digital Divide refers to the gap between those who have access to digital technologies (internet, devices) and those who do not, often based on socio-economic status, geography, age, or gender.

  • Those on the wrong side of the divide face social exclusion, struggling to access modern education, employment, and essential services that are now delivered online.
b) Illegal and Anti-Social Uses: Cybercrime

The anonymity and global reach of the internet enable new forms of crime (3.2.3.4):

  • Cybercrimes: Illegal acts committed using computers and the internet (e.g., fraud, identity theft).
  • Hacking: Gaining unauthorised access to data or systems. This can range from individual mischief to sophisticated state-sponsored economic espionage.
  • Cyber Security: The measures taken by individuals, companies, and governments to protect data and systems from these threats.
c) Surveillance and Social Control (3.2.3.4)

Technologies are increasingly used for monitoring social life and behavior (3.1.2.4 Social Control connection).

  • State Surveillance: Governments use digital technologies (CCTV, monitoring communications) to maintain social control and prevent crime or terrorism.
  • Corporate Surveillance: Social media companies constantly track user activity (clicks, searches, location) for marketing purposes. This raises significant sociological and ethical questions about privacy and data ownership.

QUICK REVIEW: What is Quantification?
The syllabus mentions the use of technologies for quantification of social life. This means turning human experiences (like fitness, sleep, mood) into measurable data points, often via apps or wearable tech (gamification). Sociologically, this changes how we perceive and manage our own bodies and behaviour.

KEY TAKEAWAY: Digital technologies reinforce existing social inequalities (the Digital Divide) while simultaneously introducing new forms of crime (cybercrime) and highly advanced methods of social control through surveillance.