Keith N Hampton

I recently had the opportunity to reflect on the progress that sociology has made, as a disciple, in studying the Internet, social media, and related technologies. I see a general trend, away form multiple disciplinary voices engaged in the study of digital media, towards a dominant ‘communication perspective’ that does not adequately represent sociological perspectives on digital media. This core perspective often serves to constrain the range of phenomena considered worthy of study, the methods, and the research goals of the broader field concerned with digital media. I see the homogeneity of this dominant communication perspective as damaging to the field of communication as it is to sociological perspectives and the health of a (multi)disciplinary field of digital media. Sociology offers a unique perspective on digital media that enriches the field. I attempt to delineate some of the major theoretical and methodological differences. I suggest a path forward that would strengthen a sociology of digital media, make communication more applicable to sociology (and other social sciences beyond psychology), and would help breed a plurality of perspectives in the field. Such change is necessary, if we are to strengthen sociological perspectives and avoid a myopic lens on our understanding of digital media and social life.

Abstract

This paper draws on my experience over two decades as part of an early generation of scholars who graduated with a Ph.D. in sociology into a career as a researcher and teacher in the multidisciplinary field of digital media. I reflect on my experiences to offer an assessment of the state of digital media scholarship within sociology and the field of communication. The study of digital media remains underdeveloped within sociology. In part, this is due to disciplinary failures, an array of relevant, specialized areas within sociology have yet to fully realize the role of digital media. Sociological perspectives are also constrained through a dominant “communication perspective” at the center of the field of communication. Communication is home to most digital media scholarship and uses its institutional dominance to arbitrate what qualifies as scholarship. Whereas communication serves as a plural disciplinary catch-all for the subjects of the social sciences, it often does so without crossing the boundaries of a relatively homogeneous, epistemological framework. That framework does not adequately represent sociological perspectives on digital media. I point to key differences between sociology and communication that tend to marginalize sociological perspectives. These differences have also served to render the field of communication less relevant to sociology (and likely to other disciplines in the social sciences). I stress the importance of building institutions and practices that support (multi)disciplinary representation in the field to strengthen sociology and other perspectives and avoid a myopic lens on our understanding of digital media and social life.

Hampton, Keith N. (2023). Disciplinary Brakes on the Sociology of Digital Media: The Incongruity of Communication and the Sociological Imagination. Information, Communication & Society 26(5), 881-890. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2023.2166365