Introduction to Digital Media

New and updated English translation of the highly successful book on digital media

This book introduces readers to the vast and rich world of digital media. It provides a strong starting point for understanding digital media’s social and political significance to our culture and the culture of others—drawing on an emergent and increasingly rich set of empirical and theoretical studies on the role and development of digital media in contemporary societies. Touching on the core points behind the discipline, the book addresses a wide range of topics, including media economics, online cooperation, open source, social media, software production, globalization, brands, marketing, the cultural industry, labor, and consumption.

Presented in six sections—Media and Digital Technologies; The Information Society; Cultures and Identities; Digital Collaboration; Public Sphere and Power; Digital Economies—the book offers in-depth chapter coverage of new and old media; network infrastructure; networked economy and globalization; the history of information technologies; the evolution of networks; sociality and digital media; media and identity; collaborative media; open source and innovation; politics and democracy; social movements; surveillance and control; digital capitalism; global inequalities and development; and more.

• Delivers a reliable, compact and quick introduction to the core issues analyzed by digital culture studies and sociology of information societies
• Interweaves main topics and theories with several examples and up-to-date case studies, often linked to our everyday lives on the internet, as well as suggestions for further readings
• Anchors examples to discussions of the main sociological, political, and anthropological theoretical approaches at stake to help students make sense of the changes brought about by digital media
• Uses critical sociological and political theory alongside every day examples to discuss concepts such as online sociality, digital labor, digital value creation, and the reputation economy

Clear and concise throughout, Introduction to Digital Media is an excellent primer for those teaching and studying digital culture and media.

ALESSANDRO DELFANTI is Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, where he teaches courses on digital culture and labor.

ADAM ARVIDSSON is Professor of Sociology at the University of Naples, Federico II, where he teaches courses on digital culture and society.

Preface vii

Part I Frameworks 1

1 Media and Digital Technologies 3

1.1 The Digital Environment 3

1.2 New and Old Media 6

1.3 Digital Media 8

1.4 Infrastructures and Platforms 13

1.5 Technology and Society 15

2 The Information Society 21

2.1 A New Society? 21

2.2 The Networked Economy and Globalization 23

2.3 Theories of the Information Society 27

2.4 The History of Information Technologies 31

2.5 The Evolution of Networks 38

2.6 The Future of the Information Society 42

Part II Transformations 45

3 Cultures and Identities 47

3.1 Digital Sociality 47

3.2 Social Media 51

3.3 Media and Identity 54

3.4 Communities or Publics? 59

3.5 Reputation and Influence 63

3.6 Critiques of Digital Sociality 66

4 From Collaboration to Value 71

4.1 Collaborative Media 71

4.2 The Dilemma of Participation 75

4.3 From Free Software to Peer‐to‐Peer 77

4.4 Open Innovation 83

4.5 The Economic Value of Cooperation 88

5 The Public Sphere and Power 93

5.1 From Audiences to Active Publics 93

5.2 Journalism and the Public Sphere 95

5.3 Politics and Democracy 102

5.4 Social Movements 106

5.5 Surveillance and Control 110

5.6 Information and Civic Culture 114

6 Work and Economy 117

6.1 The Rise of Digital Capitalism 117

6.2 Economic Models and Actors 119

6.3 Digital Labor and Precarity 125

6.4 Immaterial Production: Brands and Finance 135

6.5 Global Inequalities and Development 140

Conclusion 145

Glossary 149

References 155

Index 171

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