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Attention digital sociologists – HELP NEEDED with the Wikipedia page!

As some of you may be aware, the fledgling “Digital Sociology” page on Wikipedia was recently merged into the “Sociology of the Internet” page. This decision fails to recognize digital sociology as the distinct interdisciplinary field that it is. This is the justification that was given for the merge:

“I am, in fact, a professional sociologist who specializes in those fields, and I don’t think there is a significant difference between those two concepts. Both are used to refer to the same field, IMHO. Now, I do know some may disagree ([1]) but I think there is no consensus in the academic literature those fields are indeed separate; for example Cole in her (blog?) linked above argues that the study of digital divide belongs to digital sociology and not sociology of the Internet, which is rather bizarre, as the concept of digital divide existed long before the more recent term ‘digital sociology’; ditto for ‘ impact of ICTs’. In [2], a 2015 work, Deborah Lupton, a scholar who has done much to promote the term, writes in her book Digital Sociology that “Sociological research into computer technologies has attracted many different names, dispersed across multiple interests, including ‘cyber sociology’, ‘the sociology of the internet’, ‘e- sociology’, ‘the sociology of online communities’, ‘the sociology of social media’ and ‘the sociology of cyberculture’. When computer technologies fi rst began to be used widely, researchers often used the terms ‘information and communication technologies’ (ICTs) or ‘cyber technologies’ to describe them. The terms ‘digital’, ‘Web 2.0’ and ‘the internet’ have superseded that of the ‘cyber’ to a large extent in both the academic literature and popular culture. The term ‘digital’ is now frequently employed in both the popular media and the academic literature to describe the expanding array of material that has been rendered into digital formats and the technologies, devices and media that use these formats. As part of this general discursive move, ‘digital sociology’ is beginning to replace older terms. This change in terminology is consonant with other sub- disciplines that focus on digital technologies, including digital humanities, digital cultures, digital anthropology and digital geography.” and I think she nailed it: it is one field with a bunch of synonyms; maybe digital sociology is becoming more common, but even if it is, those are not separate fields.

We’re organising a Wikipedia Hackathon at the University of Edinburgh on February 1st from 1-4pm. I’ll post the event details online here when they’re ready. The goal is to create an accurate, thorough, and properly sourced page reflecting unique perspectives in digital sociology research and methodology.

We need the community’s input to make this a success! If you have expertise related to:

  • Key figures/thinkers in digital sociology
  • Core theories and concepts
  • Distinct methodological approaches
  • Areas of focus such as digital inequalities, identity, communities etc.

Then we welcome you to attend the event or contribute ideas for article content. Let your networks know as well! Even if you can’t make the event, it feels like it would be a good impetus to make a fantastic digital sociology page.

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