Technological developments are a product of social processes and at the same time they are drivers of social change. In the seminar, this interdependence of technology and society is critically analyzed using theoretical frameworks and empirical case studies from sociological communication research. In Switzerland, 72% access the Internet on mobile devices, 62% use social networking sites, and total usage time of the Internet has more than doubled between 2011 and 2017. This ubiquity of digital technologies and media in everyday life has far-reaching consequences, for example for social inequality, privacy, the public sphere, or community.
Textbook:
Quan-Haase, A. (2016). Technology and society: Social networks, power, and inequality (2nd ed.). Don Mills, Canada: Oxford University Press.
Additionally:
Schroeder, R. (2018). Social theory after the internet: Media, technology and globalization. London, UK: UCL Press.
Witte, J. C. & Mannon, S. E. (2010). The Internet and social inequalities. New York, NY: Routledge.
Media & Society 