This study of social structures looks at the network approach. It contains non-technical articles that contrast structural analysis with other social scientific approaches. It deals with individual behaviour and identity and with neighbourhood and community ties. It examines the relationships within and between organizations, discussing how firms occupy strategically appropriate niches. It also explores the impact of the growth of the Internet, equating computer networks as social networks connecting people in virtual communities and collaborative work.

Sponsored by the Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association (CITAMS), this volume is the second of a two-part series that celebrates the section's 30th anniversary. Casey Brienza leads the second of the two volumes - The M in CITAMS@30: Media Sociology - with former CITAMS chairs Laura Robinson, Barry Wellman, Shelia R. Cotten, and Wenhong Chen. Volume 18 continues the discussion begun in Volume 17: Networks, Hacking, and Media--CITAMS@30: Now and Then and Tomorrow. Both volumes highlight some of the best of the vibrant, interdisciplinary scholarship in communication, information technologies and media sociology. Volume 18 develops the field of media sociology vis-a-vis the roles and impacts of the digital and traditional media via rich international case studies that include a broad swath of contexts and cultures. The volume's authors probe the relationships between inequalities and media, as well as offering a scintillating array of scholarship on cultural production and consumption. Assembled together, the work in this volume showcases the value of interdisciplinary scholarship in the sociological study of media, communication, and information technologies. In keeping with the celebration of the thirty-year anniversary, both volumes open with a foreword by past chair Wenhong Chen and close with an afterword by past chair Shelia Cotten.

Sponsored by the Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association (CITAMS), this volume celebrates the section's thirtieth anniversary. Lead editor Barry Wellman joins forces with former and current CITAMS chairs Wenhong Chen, Shelia Cotten, and Laura Robinson, as well as Casey Brienza, founder of the Media Sociology Preconference, to look back at the history of the section, review some of its most important themes, and set the agenda for future discussion. Alongside its sister volume, The "M" in CITAMS@30: Media Sociology, this valuable book shows the impact CITAMS has had, and continues to have, on academic and public discourse. Featuring leading scholars in the fields of sociology of communication, information technologies and media, it reveals how the section had transcended disciplinary boundaries, and demonstrates how it holds the skills to address some of the biggest challenges of our digital age. It is essential reading for all those interested in both the story of CITAMS to date, and the role it will play in the future.

Networks in the Global Village examines how people live through personal communities: their networks of friends, neighbors, relatives, and coworkers. It is the first book to compare the communities of people around the world. Major social differences between and within the First, Second, and Third Worlds affect the opportunities and insecurities with which individuals and households must deal, the supportive resources they seek, and the ways in which markets, institutions, and networks structure access to these resources. Each article written by a resident shows how living in a country affects the ways in which people use networks to access resources.Most people's ties in the developed world are not with neighbors but are widely dispersed. Unlike traditional studies of communities, social network analysis can identify the flourishing personal communities that people do have, no matter how far their ties may stretch and how fragmented their communities may be.Social networks are one of the principal means by which people and households acquire resources?either directly, through informal exchanges, or indirectly, by providing information on how to access the services provided by governments and other institutions. Networks in the Global Village focuses on how people use these networks around the world.

"Networks in the Global Village" examines how people live through personal communities: their networks of friends, neighbors, relatives, and coworkers. It is the first book to compare the communities of people around the world. Major social differences between and within the First, Second, and Third Worlds affect the opportunities and insecurities with which individuals and households must deal, the supportive resources they seek, and the ways in which markets, institutions, and networks structure access to these resources. Each article written by a resident shows how living in a country affects the ways in which people use networks to access resources.Most people's ties in the developed world are not with neighbors but are widely dispersed. Unlike traditional studies of communities, social network analysis can identify the flourishing personal communities that people do have, no matter how far their ties may stretch and how fragmented their communities may be.Social networks are one of the principal means by which people and households acquire resources--either directly, through informal exchanges, or indirectly, by providing information on how to access the services provided by governments and other institutions. "Networks in the Global Village" focuses on how people use these networks around the world.

This study of social structures looks at the network approach. It contains non-technical articles that contrast structural analysis with other social scientific approaches. It deals with individual behaviour and identity and with neighbourhood and community ties. It examines the relationships within and between organizations, discussing how firms occupy strategically appropriate niches. It also explores the impact of the growth of the Internet, equating computer networks as social networks connecting people in virtual communities and collaborative work.