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Networked: The New Social Operating System [Hardcover]

Lee Rainie , Barry Wellman
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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Book Description

April 27, 2012

Daily life is connected life, its rhythms driven by endless email pings and responses, the chimes and beeps of continually arriving text messages, tweets and retweets, Facebook updates, pictures and videos to post and discuss. Our perpetual connectedness gives us endless opportunities to be part of the give-and-take of networking.

Some worry that this new environment makes us isolated and lonely. But in Networked, Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman show how the large, loosely knit social circles of networked individuals expand opportunities for learning, problem solving, decision making, and personal interaction. The new social operating system of "networked individualism" liberates us from the restrictions of tightly knit groups; it also requires us to develop networking skills and strategies, work on maintaining ties, and balance multiple overlapping networks. Rainie and Wellman outline the "triple revolution" that has brought on this transformation: the rise of social networking, the capacity of the Internet to empower individuals, and the always-on connectivity of mobile devices. Drawing on extensive evidence, they examine how the move to networked individualism has expanded personal relationships beyond households and neighborhoods; transformed work into less hierarchical, more team-driven enterprises; encouraged individuals to create and share content; and changed the way people obtain information. Rainie and Wellman guide us through the challenges and opportunities of living in the evolving world of networked individuals.


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Editorial Reviews

Review

"It's easy to find rigorous science, and it's easy to find topical stuff, but it's not easy to find both at the same time!" -- Shankar Vedantam, NPR Science



"Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman have combined forces to become the new Marshall McLuhan! They draw on years of observation to weave the threads of the online and offline worlds into a deeply colored tapestry. We can see emergent social norms arising from their moving stories and insightful analyses."--Vint Cerf, Internet Pioneer



"Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman have woven three enormous changes in the ways we connect--the spread of the internet, mobile tools, and social media--into a single clarifying story of our present and future life in the 21st century."--Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplus and Here Comes Everybody



"Just as I would not let my child loose in traffic before I taught her to look both ways, if it were up to me, nobody would be let loose online until they read Networked. From the stories of real people whose lives have been changed, often for the better, by their interactions with contemporary online social networks, to the sociological and psychological theories that explain how life is really changing in the age of 'networked individualism,' this is a must-read manual for life online today."--Howard Rheingold, critic and author of Net Smart, Tools for Thought, The Virtual Community, and Smart Mobs



"The Pew Internet Project has been part of America's tech landscape for nearly as long as Google has, and five years longer than Facebook. Through that time it has earned respect and attention for its careful, systematic studies of the ways in which networked connectivity is changing some daily patterns of commercial, educational, and social interactions--and the other long-standing human patterns it had reinforced. In Networked, the Project's leader, Lee Rainie, and his co-author Barry Wellman build on that analysis to explain what we already know about technology's impact on our lives, what we can see coming, and where the biggest surprises and uncertainties still lie."--James Fallows, national correspondent and technology analyst for The Atlantic



"We live in a network society. This book explains why, how, and what, on the basis of empirical evidence and rigorous analysis. This is a well-documented, well-thought, clearly written text that will become indispensable reading for professionals and students alike."--Manuel Castells, Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society, University of Southern California



"Networked illuminates how search, social networking, and the always on connectivity of mobile devices are combining to transform the social role of the Internet. This book--by two leading authorities--should be required reading for courses on the Internet, new media, and society."--William Dutton, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford



"Deftly slicing through hyperbole about the communication, internet and mobile revolutions, the authors bring us face-to-face with the wellspring of modern life: the networked individual. With flair, and a dash of wry humor, they provide keen insight about how this phenomenon affects all aspects of our lives. Anyone looking to gain deeper understanding about today's social world should read this book."--James E Katz, Director, Center for Mobile Communication Studies, Rutgers University



"From their rich history of research on the interconnected evolution of social networks, the internet, and mobile phones, Rainie and Wellman have assembled a cornucopia of facts and implications about work, family, and life in the new era of 'networked individualism.' When the next person asks me to talk about the network implications of social media, this is the book to which I will send them."--Ronald S. Burt, Professor of Sociology and Strategy, School of Business, University of Chicago; author of Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition



"Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman write a remarkably approachable, nuanced, and clear-written treatise on how social networks, the Internet, and mobile technology are changing the way we live our daily lives." -- Ate Poorthuis, Journal of Regional Science



" Networked provides an engaging and accessible overview of the ways in which social networks, the Internet, and mobile technologies have converged to affect everyday lives." -- Vanessa P. Dennen, Educational Technology

About the Author

Lee Rainie is Director of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and former managing editor of U.S. News and World Report.

Barry Wellman is the S. D. Clark Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto, where he directs NetLab.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 358 pages
  • Publisher: The MIT Press (April 27, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0262017199
  • ISBN-13: 978-0262017190
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm excited about networks, especially how social networks, communication networks, and computer networks come together. In Networked: The New Social Operating System which I co-authored with Lee Rainie, we show how the triple revolution -- social network revolution, the personalized internet revolution, and the always accessible mobile revolution -- have come together in the shift from group-centered relations to networked individualism.

I've also developed some concepts, including "the network city", "networks of networks," "the community question", "connected lives," "networked individualism", "personal community", "hyperconnectivity", and "local virtuality".

I'm a sociologist who does his research at the NetLab at the University of Toronto. I founded the International Network for Social Network Analysis in 1977. I've written or co-authored more than 300 articles, chapters, reports and books. I'm a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and I have the highest h-index of citations of all Canadian sociologists. I've received career achievement awards from the International Network for Social Network Analysis, the International Communication Association, the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association, and two sections of the American Sociological Association: Community and Urban Sociology; Communication and Information Technologies.

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
(12)
4.9 out of 5 stars
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Networked June 6, 2012
Format:Hardcover
Rainie and Wellman, using scores of data, argue that we live in a networked operating system characterized by networked individualism. They describe the triple revolution (networked revolution, internet revolution, and mobile revolution) that got us here, and discuss the repercussions of this triple revolution within various arenas of social life (e.g. the family, relationships, work, information spread). They conclude with an empirically informed guess at the future of the new social operating system of networked individualism, indulging augmented fantasies and dystopic potentials. Importantly, much of the book is set up as a larger argument against technologically deterministic claims about the deleterious effects of new information communication technologies (ICTs).

The book has several strengths, but I want to highlight two.

1)First, the theoretical contribution of networked individualism cannot be understated. This gives us a language with which to discuss a shift away from the group, without devolving into a narrative of rugged individualism. It breaks the false dichotomy between individual and group, and eloquently describes the complex reality in which we live.

2)The second strength lies in the data. The authors combine extensive statistical analyses of large random and non-random samples, with in-depth qualitative anecdotes, and poignant personal accounts. This elegant mixed methods approach is the standard of rigor that social scientists ubiquitously herald, but so rarely achieve. This work is a literal reference guide to the empirical realities a networked era.

Overall, Rainie and Wellman produce a timely and important piece of work.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Students ADORE it and so do I November 8, 2012
Format:Hardcover
For anyone looking for a timely new media read, this is it. For anyone looking for an excellent teaching text look no further. I'm using "Networked" in two classes. Students ADORE it--the lively style, vivid examples, and lucid arguments make for some of the best class discussions one can hope to have. FIVE STARS!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Towering intellects, Fresh perspectives September 23, 2012
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
These two towering intellects collaborate to give readers a fresh perspective on what is happening all around us. Rainie and Wellman have been studying human communication for decades, so they have the context to perceive change better than most researchers. Their characterization of the Triple Revolutions of social networks, the Internet, and mobile connectedness reveals that networked individualism is the trend to watch. The central message is the increasing capacity of individuals to act independently with great impact. The potent anecdotes and solid data make for a convincing presentation, but in the final chapter on "The Future of Networked Individualism" the authors unleash their imagination by suggesting compelling possibilities and troubling dangers.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars data, theory, well-written and balanced June 5, 2012
By nathan
Format:Hardcover
This book is must-read for anyone trying to understand the current state of new, digital, social technologies. First, the book is well-written and easily understood by undergrads (I've taught chapters of this book already), still useful to PhD's and engaging for non-academics. Second, the book is rich with data, providing a very current and thorough lay-of-the-land regarding numbers on social media, smart-phones, and other new technologies across various social demographics. Third, this is not just a book full of descriptive statistics but also an attempt to situate the data within a theoretical framework, rethinking how we should conceptualize the "group" and the "individual" within our new and transformative social networks. Last, the book is an important and balanced antidote to the silly tech-guru perspectives that dominate our conversations about technology and society. Be it dystopians like Sherry Turkle who ignores counter-evidence or utopians like Chris Anderson who have only a small business-centered lens through which to understand our new moment, we needed Networked's more balanced, informed, smart and (still) engaging perspective.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Networked' is a great read! Very Insightful! May 11, 2012
By Philip
Format:Hardcover
'Networked' is a great read, about a 1/2 way through already. It reminds me of another book I love, 'Freakonomics'. It offers a new way to think about the internet, new media and society.

It confirms many of the things that we already know about how people behave and adapt to new technologies such as smartphones, the Internet, and now social networking websites. But what makes the book great so far is the well thought out analysis of how easy access to all three of these technologies are fundamentally changing the ways in which people communicate, disseminate information and interact with each other now and in the future.

It is nice to see a book about today's technological changes that can cut through all of the academic-lese and hype and helps us to make sense of our increasingly networked world. When Vint Cerf said, 'Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman have combined forces to become the new Marshall McLuhan!' in Networked, I don't think he was far from the mark.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Captures Paradigm Shift in Reality with Clarity February 18, 2013
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Introduces eye opening ideas, stays on message and supports message with extremely well done statistics and research. a good read. Good for those who are on the front end of adopting the new media that is defining our world or those who are lagging behind.

One small critique would be that at some point it feels like it does plow the same field over and again - thus failing to follow its own warnings about too much information. They make their point then make it again, both times with lots of evidence and solid theories.
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Just as I would not let my child loose in traffic before I taught her to look both ways, if it were up to me, nobody would be let loose online until they read Networked. I had the privilege of reading this in manuscript, and quoted it extensively for my own forthcoming book. I discovered both... Read more
Nov 16, 2011 by Howard Rheingold |  See all 2 posts
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