Civil Society Versus Network Society: Structures Of Social Interaction In Network Society

This dissertation sought to examine the impact of the Internet on society via two theoretic frameworks:civil society and network society. Civil society is a historical concept which has been developed continually. In chapter one, to review the evolution of civil society definition was to achieve a working definition. Based on the literature review, some basic characteristics elements of ideal on civil society was proposed to described the conditions for a strong and healthy civil society to flourish. These elements show among the communication on the Internet. The Internet can give great potential contributions to flourish civil society examined by the perspectives of technology of the Information Age. After examining two basic mechanisms used to achieve a communication:forum and newspaper, and the two comparable Internet-based mechanisms:online discussion fora and news websites, it was concluded that which the Internet may contribute to civil society. Nonetheless, Perturbing processes of capitalization, balkanization and digital divide can undermine the potential contributions to civil society. In chapter two, Castells'network society theory was introduced and criticized. According to his theory, two basic concepts from the network society was sought to be addressed:a network and structure. With his network approach, node and link (especially its direction and degree) was discussed in individual level and institutional level. Against the egalitarian nature of the Internet of freedom, the social structure of the network society is hierarchical. Chapter three sought to compare these two theoretical approaches in terms of their explanatory power. The two theoretical frameworks generate different predications regarding the patterns of communion in online discussion among individuals and in cross-national information flow. Civil society predicts a rather egalitarian social structure in newsgroup and in the international exchange of hyperlinks. On the contrary, network society expects to find hierarchical social structure among individuals in discussion fora and between countries via their news organizations. With the theoretical foundations laid, the following chapters are devoted to execution of the study, answering the research questions and testing the hypotheses. Chapter four examined the social structure in individual level and institutional level in two theoretical frameworks on the Internet. The newsgroups were examined against the competing expectations of civil society and network society. The overall social structure was hierarchical and thus corresponded with the expectations of the network perspectives. In addition, the international network created by media organizations' websites and hyperlinks. Findings strongly support the network perspectives over the civil society standpoint. Chapter five was dedicated to the discussion of theoretical implication of the finding. The remarkable similarities between the social structures created by the individuals in newsgroups and in the networks of countries and news organizations lead to the notion of "network determinism". Overall findings supported the network society perspective and emphasized networks as an important organizational form of social interaction. The influence of network on human interaction is distinct from society and technology. The technology provided new means for people to interact with one another. Interactions on the Internet also take form in varying social contexts. Comparing and contrasting predictions draw from the two theoretical approaches in the study-network society and civil society-three organizational mechanisms for human interactions in society could be further indentified:society, technology and networks. No one of these mechanisms by itself was enough to explain the complex structure of social interaction on the internet. Furthermore, the contribution of the three organizations mechanisms to our understanding of social interactions is large than the sum of their individual contributions. In summary, human interaction through new technologies should be examined via three sources of influence. Society, technology, networks and any interaction among them should be examined in order to further understand what happens when people communicate with one another over the Internet.