Digitalization and social life – Research – Department of Sociology and Political Science
Digitalization and Social Life
The latest decade, we have witnessed a new wave of digitalization – by some called “deep digitalization – characterized by phenomena such as big data, machine learning, smart algorithms, artificial intelligence and advanced network solutions. “Semi-autonomous» digital infrastructures have been delegated increasingly more tasks, responsibility and autonomy in society, at the same time as they have become less opaque and transparent for the public. This effects social life in a wide range of areas: e.g. how we communicate and establish social networks, how we experience our workplace and conduct our work, how we access media and culture, and our relations to public agencies both as citizens and costumers/clients.
The research group «Digitalization and social life» is working with such research questions and is a leading social science research milieu om the relation between digitalization and processes of social change.
“Deep digitalization” are challenging the social sciences thematically, theoretically and methodically. A central concern for our research group is to open the new digital technologies and infrastructures as a thematic field and objects of study by researching how they are developed and put into use in an interplay between social and technological factors. It is easy to get seduced by the seemingly neutral, efficient and intelligent performance of modern computer systems. However, they are created for purposes that are often far from neutral: to create capital and profit, to nudge behavior and preferences in certain directions, and to identify, sort and classify people. To investigate and follow this encoding of social values through all phases of the development of modern computer systems – the establishment of big and small data archives, the development of algorithmic assemblages, and the design of human-computer interfaces – are one of the major tasks ahead for the social sciences. At the same time, more research are needed on how digital infrastructures are implemented and appropriated in social contexts, the negotiations taking place, the accept or resistance they face, and how users are transforming the technologies in various ways and employing them for other means than intended.
Our research group are also concerned with the development of theory and methods. “Deep digitalization” demand rethinking of established theories in sociology and social science more generally (e.g. theories in media sociology about filter mechanisms and gatekeepers, theories in cultural sociology about the establishment of cultural preferences, democracy theories about the constitution of the public sphere, interactionist perspectives of interaction orders and society building from below). Conceptual development is a prioritized area for the research group. Furthermore, digitalization demands and renders possible the development of new, both qualitative and quantitative methods and analytical tools. Members of the research group are working e.g. with new approaches to ethnography and text- and content analysis.
The members of the research group have a long-lasting and broad experience with research on the development of digital technologies and the interplay between technology and society. Examples of recent publications are found below. The group are engaged in several on-going, exiting research projects in the field:
- “DICE: Digital infrastructures and citizen empowerment” – on the development of “smart” digital infrastructures and their influence in/on four central social fields: access to media and culture, enabling of citizen-government relations, empowerment in social interaction, and influence and autonomy in working life (Spilker, Røyrvik, Tjora).
- «Trust and Transparency Through Blockchain Technology» – on how blockchain technology may transform the conditions for value creation and organization in private and public sector (Krokan)
- «STREAM: Streaming the Culture Industries» – looks at the development of streaming solutions in the film, television, music and book industries, with a focus on technology development, changes in value chains, and the establishment of new user practices (Spilker).
- «ESSI: Evolving Society as Social Interaction» – investigates how material structures and technologies are constructing and are constructed by social interaction (Tjora, Levang, Skaar).
Other on-going projects and themes the research group are working with includes:
- The use of health and lifestyle applications and the quantification of pregnancy (Støverstein, Sætnan, Spilker)
- Personal technologies in public spaces (Henriksen, Tjora)
- Economies of sharing, platforms and digital markets (Krokan)
Some recent publications
- Kjus, Yngvar; Spilker, Hendrik Storstein. (2020) Editors of a special Issue on music and media. Norsk Medietidsskrift. vol. 27 (3).
- Spilker, Hendrik Storstein; Colbjørnsen, Terje. (2020) The dimensions of streaming: toward a typology of an evolving concept. Media, Culture and Society. vol. 42 (7-8).
- Grothe-Hammer, M., & Roth, S. (2020). Dying is Normal, Dying with the Coronavirus is not: A Sociological Analysis of the Implicit Norms Behind the Criticism of Swedish “Exceptionalism”. European Societies. Early View. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020.1826555
- Ask, Kristine; Spilker, Hendrik Storstein; Hansen, Martin. (2019) The politics of user-platform relationships: Co-scripting live-streaming on Twitch.tv. First Monday. vol. 24 (7).
- Spilker, Hendrik Storstein; Ask, Kristine; Hansen, Martin. (2018) The new practices and infrastructures of participation: how the popularity of Twitch.tv challenges old and new ideas about television viewing. Information, Communication and Society, Volume 23, 2020.
Researchers
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Petter Grytten Almklov Professor
+47-73559998 +47-91897207 petter.almklov@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Tor Anders Bye PhD Candidate
tor.a.bye@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Tangni Cunningham Dahl-Jørgensen PhD Candidate
+47-93454204 tangni.c.dahl-jorgensen@ntnu.no Department of Computer Science -
Michael Grothe-Hammer Associate Professor
+47-73591749 michael.grothe-hammer@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Arve Hjelseth Associate Professor
+47-73591562 +47-97603162 arve.hjelseth@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Margareth Horn PhD Candidate
+47-41272875 margareth.horn@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Arne Krokan Professor
+47-91897473 arne.krokan@ntnu.no Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management -
Melanie Magin Associate Professor
+47-73413277 +47-93471979 melanie.magin@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Ewa Morsund PhD Candidate
ewa.morsund@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Lisa Reutter PhD Candidate
lisa.m.reutter@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Emil André Røyrvik Professor
+47-73550366 emil.royrvik@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Hendrik Storstein Spilker Professor
+47-73591849 +47-41240389 hendrik.spilker@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Ingvill Stuvøy Postdoctoral Fellow
+47-73590673 ingvill.stuvoy@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Ann Rudinow Sætnan Affiliated
+47-73591786 ann.r.saetnan@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Aksel Tjora Professor
+47-73412664 +47-91897611 aksel.tjora@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Gunhild Tøndel Associate Professor
+47-73591332 gunhild.tondel@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Heidrun Åm Associate professor
+47-73591782 heidrun.aam@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science