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Digital sociology is a sub-discipline of the academic field of sociology. It focuses on understanding the use of digital media as part of everyday life and how these various technologies contribute to patterns of human behavior, social relationships and concepts of the self. In general, sociologists have been slow to take up research involving social media and to personally engage in using social media for professional practice, such as blogging and Twitter.〔Daniels, J. and Feagin, J. (2011) ("The (coming) social media revolution in the academy" ). ''Fast Capitalism'', 8(2).〕〔Schneider, C.J. (2014). Social Media and e-Public Sociology. In Ariane Hanemaayer and Christopher J. Schneider, editors, The Public Sociology Debate: Ethics and Engagement, University of British Columbia Press: 205-224.〕 This is despite the fact that digital devices are now central to the mediation and configuration of institutions and social relationships and therefore to the very nature of sociological inquiry and research.〔Ruppert, E., Law, J. and Savage, M. (2013) ("Reassembling social science methods: the challenge of digital devices" ). ''Theory, Culture & Society''〕 Indeed digital technologies are beginning to have a major impact on university education, as in other educational settings and workplaces, and it is argued that academics need to engage and become familiar with their affordances, transforming themselves into 'digital scholars'.〔Weller, M. (2011) ''The Digital Scholar: How Technology is Transforming Scholarly Practice''. London: Bloomsbury Academic.〕 The first scholarly article to use the term 'digital sociology' in its title appeared in 2009.〔Wynn, J. (2009) Digital sociology: emergent technologies in the field and the classroom. ''Sociological Forum'', 24(2), 448--456〕 The author reflected on the ways in which digital technologies may influence both sociological research and teaching. In 2010, 'digital sociology' was described in terms of bridging the growing academic focus with the increasing interest from global business through the publication of the book, ''Expanding Sentience: Introducing Digital Sociology for moving beyond Buzz Metrics in a World of Growing Online Socialization''.〔Neal, R. (2010) ''Expanding Sentience: Introducing Digital Sociology for moving beyond Buzz Metrics in a World of Growing Online Socialization.'' Lulu〕 It was not until 2013 that the first purely academic book with the title 'digital sociology' was published: an edited collection of review chapters that addressed a range of topics, including concepts and experiences of space, community, intimacy, the role played by gender and social inequalities in people's use of digital technologies and the impact of these technologies in education, health, finance and war reporting.〔Orton-Johnson, K. and Prior, N. (eds) (2013) ''Digital Sociology: Critical Perspectives''. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan〕 The first sole-authored book entitled ''Digital Sociology'' was published in 2015.〔Lupton, D. (2015) ''Digital Sociology''. London: Routledge〕 The first academic conference on "Digital Sociology" was held in New York, NY in 2015. 〔 Daniels, J., Gregory, K., Cottom, T.M. Digital Sociology MiniConference, organized in conjunction with the Eastern Sociological Society meetings, February 27-28, 2015. http://digsoc.commons.gc.cuny.edu/conference-papers-2015/ 〕 Although the term ‘digital sociology’ has not yet fully entered the cultural lexicon, sociologists have engaged in research related to the internet since its inception. These sociologists have addressed many social issues relating to online communities, cyberspace and cyber-identities. This and similar research has attracted many different names such as 'cybersociology', 'the sociology of the internet', 'the sociology of online communities', 'the sociology of social media', 'the sociology of cyberculture' or something else again. Digital sociology differs from these terms in that it is wider in its scope, addressing not only the internet or cyberculture but also the impact of the other digital media and devices that have emerged since the first decade of the twenty-first century. Since the internet has become more pervasive and linked with everyday life, references to the 'cyber' in the social sciences seems now to have been replaced by the 'digital'. 'Digital sociology' encapsulates the concerns of all of these endeavors in a descriptive term that references other sub-disciplines in the use of the term 'digital'; such as digital humanities and digital anthropology. It is beginning to supersede and incorporate the other titles above, as well as including the newest Web 2.0 digital technologies into its purview, such as wearable technology, augmented reality, smart objects, the Internet of Things and big data. == Aspects of digital sociology == Four aspects of digital sociology have been identified:〔Lupton, D. (2012) ("Digital sociology: an introduction" ). Sydney: University of Sydney〕 # Professional digital practice: using digital media tools for professional purposes: to build networks, construct an e-profile, publicise and share research and instruct students. # Sociological analyses of digital use: researching the ways in which people's use of digital media configures their sense of selves, their embodiment and their social relations. # Digital data analysis: using digital data for social research, either quantitative or qualitative. # Critical digital sociology: undertaking reflexive and critical analysis of digital media informed by social and cultural theory. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「digital sociology」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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