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Digital Society

Module description

In this module, we will explore the social context that has led to the widespread diffusion of digital technology, Internet networks and information systems, and the ways in which everyday life and the organisation and structures of society have been changing in association with these and other developments, and the rising prominence of data and algorithms (and associated rankings, scores and classifications) as devices of social organisation, representation and action. These are key topics of our time and their importance can be appreciated by looking at the range of society-adjectives that scholars have coined to capture some of the most salient aspects: blackbox society, search engine society, database society, surveillance society, platform society, audit society, information society, control society, and others.

We will explore key works in the social studies of digital technology and information, and the arising challenges for digital sociology and social science scholarship. You will read key critical works, discuss harms and opportunities of contemporary developments in seminar discussions and case studies, and will take part in exercises of speculative systems design to try and imagine a better future. This module is suitable for non-specialists and interdisciplinary pathways.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to:

• Explore the ways in which social contexts have shaped the development of information technology and networks, and vice versa
• Discuss key contemporary social issues related to the informatisation and datafication of society
• Enhance knowledge of the local and global processes, practices and interactions through which information technology, databases and networks are mobilised, operationalised, shaped by social contexts and shape them in turn
• Encourage critical and questioning attitudes about often hyped or overlooked socio-technical innovations
• Develop new skills in identifying opportunities for social change and elaborating strategies for seizing them
• Develop skills of team collaboration and organisation
• Improve employability with a combination of analytical and organisational skills in addition to the thematic knowledge acquired

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Understand key terms and concepts in social study of digital technology and information and digital sociology scholarship, and use them in an articulate and comprehensive way, orally and in writing
• 2. Critically reflect, evaluate and comprehensively contrast and compare the social issues and questions raised by the introduction of new digital technology and networks in everyday life, the workplace, and communities
• 3. Identify opportunities for social change and the key milestones and strategies to achieve change, developing possible paths of action

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Critically understand, apply and criticise theoretical arguments, frameworks and concepts from digital sociology and social studies of digital technology and information in the analysis of real-world issues and cases
• 5. Critically articulate how different groups, communities, organisations and individuals adopt and appropriate digital technology and networks, demonstrating a robust awareness of the contributions of different social actors to the development and diffusion of technology, and the direct and indirect social impacts

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Analyse and draw conclusions from unstructured social scenarios and real-world cases
• 7. Demonstrate skills of critical and reflective thinking, and effective independent study and research
• 8. Plan, execute and write-up effective independent study and research
• 9. Collaborate with peers in a team and manage a team-based project

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics: 

• The role of information technology, networks, data and algorithms in society
• Key issues from interdisciplinary literature such as Internet studies, software studies, data studies, algorithm studies, platform studies, information infrastructures and digital sociology.
  For example, key issues might include: the politics of social media, surveillance, scoring, rankings, classifications, infrastructures, standards, protocols, affordances, profiling, prediction, analytics search, retrieval, blackboxes, crowdsourcing and the gig, sharing and digital economies
• Challenges and opportunities for digital social science and digital sociology scholarship
• Analysis of real-world cases and issues in the light of key theoretical frameworks
• Introduction to systems design problems and techniques

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Beniger, J.R., 1986. The control revolution: Technological and economic origins of the information society. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
• Floridi, L., 2014. Fourth Revolution: How the Infosphere is Reshaping Human Reality. Oxford University Press, USA, Oxford.
• Lupton, D., 2014. Digital Sociology, 1st edition. ed. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon.
• Zuboff, S., 2019. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. Profile Books.

Key words search

Digital society; digital sociology; information technology; data; algorithms