The first book to systematically discuss the skills and literacies needed to use digital media, particularly the Internet, van Dijk and van Deursen's clear and accessible work distinguishes digital skills, analyzes their roles and prevalence, and offers solutions from individual, educational, sociological, and policy perspectives.

A seminal shift has taken place in the relationship between Internet usage and politics. At the turn of the century, it was presumed that digital communication would produce many positive political effects like improvements to political information retrieval, support for public debate and community formation or even enhancements in citizen participation in political decision-making. While there have been positive effects, negative effects have also occurred including fake news and other political disinformation, social media appropriation by terrorists and extremists, 'echo-chambers' and "filter bubbles", elections influenced by hostile hackers and campaign manipulation by micro-targeting marketing. It is time for critical re-evaluation. Designed to encourage critical thinking on the part of the student, internationally recognized experts, Jan A.G.M. van Dijk and Kenneth Hacker, chronicle the political significance of new communication technologies for the promotion of democracy over the last two decades. Drawing upon structuration theory and network theory and real-world case studies from across the globe, the book is logically structured around the following topics: Political Participation and Inclusion Habermas and the Reconstruction of Public Space Media and Democracy in Authoritarian States Democracy and the Internet in China E-government and democracy Views of democracy and Internet use Underpinned by up-to-date literature, this important textbook is aimed at students and scholars of communication studies, political science, sociology, political communication, and international relations.

A seminal shift has taken place in the relationship between Internet usage and politics. At the turn of the century, it was presumed that digital communication would produce many positive political effects like improvements to political information retrieval, support for public debate and community formation or even enhancements in citizen participation in political decision-making. While there have been positive effects, negative effects have also occurred including fake news and other political disinformation, social media appropriation by terrorists and extremists, 'echo-chambers' and "filter bubbles", elections influenced by hostile hackers and campaign manipulation by micro-targeting marketing. It is time for critical re-evaluation. Designed to encourage critical thinking on the part of the student, internationally recognized experts, Jan A.G.M. van Dijk and Kenneth Hacker, chronicle the political significance of new communication technologies for the promotion of democracy over the last two decades. Drawing upon structuration theory and network theory and real-world case studies from across the globe, the book is logically structured around the following topics: Political Participation and Inclusion Habermas and the Reconstruction of Public Space Media and Democracy in Authoritarian States Democracy and the Internet in China E-government and democracy Views of democracy and Internet use Underpinned by up-to-date literature, this important textbook is aimed at students and scholars of communication studies, political science, sociology, political communication, and international relations.

The Network Society is a clear, engaging guide to the past, consequences and future of digital communication, and forms a comprehensive introduction to how new media functions in contemporary society. Integrating both face-to-face and online communication, the fourth edition explores crucial new issues and challenges in today's digital media ecology, in doing so exploring the centrality of power to understanding life in the network society. Featuring: The rise of the 'data economy' The increasing importance of artificial intelligence. big data and robotics The growth of Internet platforms and how to regulate big tech. New coverage of disinformation and fake news, including deep fake videos Updates to the story of digital youth culture, as a foreshadow of future new media use With examples, cases and real-world applications, this is the essential guide for digital and new media students seeking to understand a diverse, fast-moving field.

How are we to understand the causes of the telecommunications revolution? How can we begin to predict its consequences? The last three decades have witnessed a dramatic acceleration in the use, demand, and need for telecommunications, data communication, and mass communication transmitted and integrated into networks. Through a synthesis of contemporary theories about modernization, this book offers a broad-ranging introduction to the 'network' society in all its aspects. The Network Society: * Analyzes the new media in all their technical, economic, political, sociological, cultural and psychological aspects. * Examines the new media in terms of their impact on both public policy and private life. * Compares legal and policy initiatives in North America, Europe, Eastern Asia, and the Third World. * Enables the reader to critical assess the 'hype' which surrounds the Internet and other new media. In comparison to the boundless speculation accompanying the new media, this book offers a well-balanced but critical overview of the telecommunications revolution.In providing an interdisciplinary yet highly accessible introduction to the field, it will be essential reading for all students of media and communication studies.

The first book to systematically discuss the skills and literacies needed to use digital media, particularly the Internet, van Dijk and van Deursen's clear and accessible work distinguishes digital skills, analyzes their roles and prevalence, and offers solutions from individual, educational, sociological, and policy perspectives.

The Network Society is a clear, engaging guide to the past, consequences and future of digital communication, and forms a comprehensive introduction to how new media functions in contemporary society. Integrating both face-to-face and online communication, the fourth edition explores crucial new issues and challenges in today's digital media ecology, in doing so exploring the centrality of power to understanding life in the network society. Featuring: The rise of the 'data economy' The increasing importance of artificial intelligence. big data and robotics The growth of Internet platforms and how to regulate big tech. New coverage of disinformation and fake news, including deep fake videos Updates to the story of digital youth culture, as a foreshadow of future new media use With examples, cases and real-world applications, this is the essential guide for digital and new media students seeking to understand a diverse, fast-moving field.

During the mid 90's, around the time the Internet became popular, it became apparent that there was still one critical issue holding back limitless opportunities. Computer professionals had to find a way to close the gap between those who do not have computer or Internet access and those who do, also known as the digital divide. Suddenly, hundreds of conferences of computer professionals, social scientists, and government policy experts worldwide dedicated themselves to this concern. Then the Internet hype seemed to dissipate, and observers assumed the digital divide would fix itself. The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the Information Society explains why the digital divide is still widening and, in advanced high-tech societies, deepening. Taken from an international perspective, the book offers full coverage of the literature and research and a theoretical framework from which to analyze and approach the issue. Where most books on the digital divide only describe and analyze the issue, Jan van Dijk presents 26 policy perspectives and instruments designed to close the divide itself. Written in a simple, thorough, and multidisciplinary approach, The Deepening Divide offers insights to students, researchers, policymakers, and professionals in media and communication studies, sociology, educational policy, public policy, and computer education. Jan A.G.M. van Dijk is an internationally recognized expert in the field of communication, with new media studies as his primary interest. The author of The Network Society: Social Aspects of the New Media (SAGE, 1999) and co-editor of Digital Democracy: Issues of Theory and Practice (SAGE, 2000), van Dijk is a professor of Communication Science at Twente University, the Netherlands, and serves as an advisor of the European Commission of the Information Society Forum.

How best can we understand why the application of information and communication technology in organizations succeeds or fails? Calling on technical, organisational, social, psychological and economic perspectives, this book provides a fresh and comprehensive framework for answering this question. Consideration is given to how ICT is adopted, implemented and used within organizations. Throughout special features will help readers clarify their understanding. These features include: - Case studies and vignettes that chart the opportunities and pitfalls created by ICT - Useful chapter introductions - An up to date glossary of concepts and abbreviations

During the mid 90's, around the time the Internet became popular, it became apparent that there was still one critical issue holding back limitless opportunities. Computer professionals had to find a way to close the gap between those who do not have computer or Internet access and those who do, also known as the digital divide. Suddenly, hundreds of conferences of computer professionals, social scientists, and government policy experts worldwide dedicated themselves to this concern. Then the Internet hype seemed to dissipate, and observers assumed the digital divide would fix itself. The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the Information Society explains why the digital divide is still widening and, in advanced high-tech societies, deepening. Taken from an international perspective, the book offers full coverage of the literature and research and a theoretical framework from which to analyze and approach the issue. Where most books on the digital divide only describe and analyze the issue, Jan van Dijk presents 26 policy perspectives and instruments designed to close the divide itself. Written in a simple, thorough, and multidisciplinary approach, The Deepening Divide offers insights to students, researchers, policymakers, and professionals in media and communication studies, sociology, educational policy, public policy, and computer education. Jan A.G.M. van Dijk is an internationally recognized expert in the field of communication, with new media studies as his primary interest. The author of The Network Society: Social Aspects of the New Media (SAGE, 1999) and co-editor of Digital Democracy: Issues of Theory and Practice (SAGE, 2000), van Dijk is a professor of Communication Science at Twente University, the Netherlands, and serves as an advisor of the European Commission of the Information Society Forum.

How best can we understand why the application of information and communication technology in organizations succeeds or fails? Calling on technical, organisational, social, psychological and economic perspectives, this book provides a fresh and comprehensive framework for answering this question. Consideration is given to how ICT is adopted, implemented and used within organizations. Throughout special features will help readers clarify their understanding. These features include: - Case studies and vignettes that chart the opportunities and pitfalls created by ICT - Useful chapter introductions - An up to date glossary of concepts and abbreviations

Digital Democracy offers an invaluable in-depth explanation of what issues of theory and application are most important to the emergence and development of computer-mediated communication systems for political purposes. It addresses how the Internet, and computer-mediated political communication are affecting democracy and focuses on the various theoretical and practical issues involved in digital democracy.