The internet and social networks

In the 20 November On The Media podcast the director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project counters the claim that the internet is responsible for growing social isolation.  Research in 2006 showed that in the last 20 years the size of Americans’ core social networks had decreased from three people to two.  The researchers surmised this was due to the rise of mobile phones and the internet.  What the Pew researchers found in 2008 was that people who used the internet regularly actually had broader and more varied social networks.  Yes, their core network had slimmed down to two people, but overall internet users reported having large social networks which allowed them to connect with people around the world, and also increased their involvement in their local communities.

The entire Pew study is here.

Things I’ve come across recently and don’t want to forget

Marres, N  2009  Testing powers of engagement: Green living experiments, the ontological turn and the undoability of involvement. European Journal of Social Theory 12(1): 117-133

How public experiments (like the green energy meters) are conducted in private home spaces and then republicised, for instance on a blog – a way to engage people (with their environments as well as engage an audience for the public experiment).

 

 

Cenite, M; Detenber, BH; Koh, AWK; Lim, ALH  2009  Doing the right thing online: a survey of bloggers’ ethical beliefs and practices.  New Media & Society 11(4):575-597

Study revealed four underlying ethical principles of blogging: truth telling, accountability, minimising harm and attribution.

 

 

boyd, danah  2006 A Blogger’s Blog: Exploring the Definition of a Medium. Reconstruction 6(4)

Blog blurring textuality and orality, private and public.

This week in sustainability news

Big: Ahead of the Copenhagen Climate Summit Eurozine published their ‘Climate of change? Debating the politics of global warming’ article series.  It includes a theoretical section with articles ranging from ecofeminism to ecological materialism.  There are also sections on the links between politics and policy and the tensions embedded within the relationship with scientific experts.

Art: Recycle a used juicebox into a protective iPod case

Building & Recycling: A profile of Dan Phillips who combines his environmentalism with a broader social conscience.  With his company, Phoenix Commotion, he designs and builds houses for low-income families out of salvaged materials.

Blogging: In the most recent of the Pew Research Project for Excellence in Journalism New Media Index, blogging about global warming was one of the leading topics.  Global warming skeptics dominated the discussion with comments often linked to Gordon Brown’s warning of dire consequences if an agreement is not reached at the Climate Summit in December. Pew’s conclusion: “The global warming story, in particular, reveals how a sector of the public, passionate over a particular subject, can quickly assemble online.”