Browse Books

Reviewer: Jeanine M. Meyer

The authors of this book describe the development and effects of what they term the "triple revolution" of social networking, the Internet, and mobile communications, which they characterize as distinct but related and mutually reenforcing phenomena. Social networking here refers to the sets of relationships that exist among network members. The authors describe how social networking arose long before the appearance of Facebook and other recent commercial and open-source offerings. The Internet revolution and the mobile revolution refer to technologies. However, this is not a technical book, but one that reveals how people operate in today's world in which the effects of various technologies are so important. The authors, Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, and Barry Wellman, S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto, use evocative anecdotes combined with data from government sources and surveys (mostly but not all from Pew studies), and sociological concepts. There are extensive notes, and sources include academic studies, articles in the general press, and blogs. The notes provide important background information on what questions were asked and where terms may have first occurred. The authors share credit with collaborators. The book consists of three parts. The first part, "The Triple Revolution," defines and justifies the authors' terminology and provides history and context. The first chapter, "The New Social Operating System of Networked Individualism," starts with an anecdote about a couple confronting significant challenges after one of them had an accident. This particular story, in which the networks were life sustaining, sets the generally optimistic tone of the book. The next three chapters focus on each of the "revolutions." The social network chapter provides a valuable description of technologies such as the automobile, the plane, and the telephone, and social phenomena such as smaller families, changes in pensions, and women working outside the home. The Internet chapter starts with an insightful history of, and a broad statement on, the digital divide. The authors present data on how different groups use Internet technologies differently, and discuss typologies of Internet cultures. The mobile revolution chapter starts with the assertion that "traditional research has not fully captured the changes that mobile phones and wireless computers have introduced to the network operating system." The authors follow with a masterful explication of the effects of mobile technologies, using cultural references, surveys, and individual interviews. Part 2, "How Networked Individualism Works," details the implications of networks for our lives. The authors refute the notion that people are giving up what may be falsely rated as higher-quality face-to-face relationships for communicating via texts. They point out that most people use texting and other newer modes of communication to connect with friends and families, and often to arrange and facilitate face-to-face meetings. Similarly, the chapter on networked families reveals the substantial increase in parent-to-child and spouse-to-spouse interactions using technology and what they call "netting together." The chapter on work has many fascinating sections, including one on the distributed designs of the Boeing 777 and 787 airliners. Apparently, "distributed work on the newer Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been a bumpy ride." The chapter on creators also incorporates several distinct topics, including analysis of Wikipedia authors and the Egyptian revolution. The authors highlight a study showing the divergence of traditional media and online media during a set week, and enumerate the reasons people want to be considered "networked creators." The third part, "How to Operate in a Networked World, Now and in the Future," offers guidance on thinking as a networked individual and "the future of networked individualism." The book ends on a more cautious note, presenting two future scenarios, an optimistic one that includes augmented reality and the supportive use of agents, and a dystopic "walled and surveilled world" in which networks "bind ... rather than liberate." The authors are actual social scientists—professionals at what they do—and not people from computer science trying to be social scientists. The book is engaging; it forces me to check out the anecdotes and data in terms of my own experiences and recollection of history. I am not quite as optimistic as the authors, but they do directly challenge the gloomy pronouncements made in the popular press and in academic studies by focusing on networked individuals. It might have been useful to apply their resources and skills to corporate points of view, including how in many cases we are not the consumer or the customer, but the product [1]. What the authors term "collaborative consumption" may not be totally benign. This comment hints at my assessment: I want more. I strongly recommend this book. Online Computing Reviews Service