Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010. Session 46: Social networks and new forms of sociability. Original title "Rationalised intimacy: towards a sociological understanding of social media" Original abstract: Early sociological accounts of the Internet most often explored the difference between online and offline social realities with an emphasis on online social relationships as forming the base of a distinct space of possibilities. As a consequence of the social and semantic turn in web development, online space is now conceptualised in a profoundly different manner. Not only is it regarded as an extension of the social realm offline but indeed as a regulating layer thereof. To a large extent, the formation of the discursive field of social media is driven by self acclaimed experts with an aspiration to proclaim that we are witnessing a fundamental change of society and social relationships. Taking its point of departure in a framework of cultural studies and discourse analysis, this paper sets out to explore the arguments put forward in the 20 most influential popular scientific books published on the subject of social media. Arguing that these social media visionaries are important actors in the regulation as well as articulation of the meaning of social media, this paper highlights core assumptions and lines of arguments upon which the popular scientific texts are based. These assumptions and arguments, in turn, are put under sociological scrutiny in order to facilitate an understanding of social media that does not merely rely on utopian prophecies on technological innovation but rather takes into account a sociological understanding of the complexities of late modern society.

1. Rationalized Intimacy and
Disciplinary Social Networks
Dr Martin Berg
Senior Researcher @ Good Old, Sweden
Senior Lecturer in Sociology @ Halmstad University
Research Affiliate @ MEDEA Collaborative Media Initiative
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

2. Introductory remarks
Corporate post-doctoral research project focusing on social media
Enormous gap between scholarly and corporate lines of reasoning
Pop-science and ”business manifestos” are influential interpreters of
contemporary society and function as regulatory devices drawing
boundaries in the discursive production of knowledge
Proto-theoretical attempts to explain the current state of the field
The point of departure is often the technological development per se
Which are the main arguments and core assumptions and how do
they build up the foundational logic of a proto-theory?
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

3. Methodological concerns
The most influential/best-selling ”business manifestos” under
scrutiny (approximately 10-15 books).
Texual analysis focusing on lines of reasoning, core assumptions
and proto-theoretical patterns.
The texts are widely used as a point of reference within the industry
and could hence be regarded as important actors in the discursive
production of knowledge and visions of the future.
As a corporate researcher, I am being torn between different fields
of thought, radically contradictory expectations and conflicting aims.
A modest reconciliation between corporate and scholarly thought.
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

4. There’s a revolution...
”how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with with
customers”
"how blogs, MySpace, YouTube and the rest of today's user-
generated media are destroying our economy, our culture,
and our values”
”how mass collaboration changes everything”
”the surprising power of our social networks and how they
shape our lives”
"how social media transforms the way we live and do
business."
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

5. Conception of social change
Social change is thought of as induced by technological development
and the changing patterns of social interaction that it provokes.
Social change is often assumed to occur as a complex interplay
between micro- and macroscopical processes.
There are two major tendencies in the empirical material:
A tension between increased levels of rationalization and
intimacy.
In order to sustain the above mentioned processes, social
networks work in a disciplinary fashion demanding authenticity
and trust thus surveilling rather than liberating actors.
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

6. Rationalized Intimacy
The development of social technologies has led to a dramatic
increase in social connectivity/visibility and it is often argued that
they leverage "old" patterns of sociability.
Social technologies are thought to challenge contemporary society
by lowering the transaction cost for social organization thus making
the barriers of group action collapse.
Decline of traditional institutional power goes hand in hand with new
forms of social cohesion, dispersion of power and late modern
processes of differentiation.
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

7. Rationalized Intimacy
Actors in the new economy must seek to reduce inefficiency and
avoid obstructing intermediaries in the economic or social chain of
transactions.
It appears to be the case that processes of rationalization go hand in
hand with the notion of intimacy and it is assumed that close
relationships characterized by trust and dialogue are crucial in order
to maintain the "new social order".
Social interaction and interpersonal communication are thought of
as marked by efficiency, rapidity, simplicity and smoothness.
Embarrasing or costly social situations should at all times be
avoided.
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

8. Disciplinary Social Networks
People’s enmeshment in social networks have changed the
conditions of social interaction and it appears to be the case that
this entails changes at a macroscopical level that are nourished by a
fear of being caught "doing something inappropriate".
Technological development includes the possibility of ubiquitous
social documentation through cameras together with a simultaneous
interlinkage between individuals, places, actions and so forth
through the function of tagging.
The possibilities of creative self-expression have increased, yet they
go hand in hand with a higher level of social control: ”[w]hat
happens in Vegas stays on YouTube” (Qualman 2009).
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

9. Disciplinary Social Networks
The decline of traditional forms of authority implies the rise of
another, yet much more complex authority that gains legitimacy
through the individuals’ desire to express themselves.
We are dealing with the emergence of a regulatory regime made
possible by an urge for increased visibility and social connectivity.
The social technologies that once was thought to provide a social
space characterized by playfulness and curiosity have evolved into a
mechanism of social control that "rewards first-class behavior and
punishes improper behavior" (Qualman 2009: 240).
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

10. Disciplinary Social Networks
The desire for belonging, recognition and sense of social community
provide that actors are willing to lead a life characterized by
openness and transparency.
This state of affairs demands a streamlined self-presentation and
provides that social action needs to be bound up with careful
consideration.
It is through the lack of freedom that perceived freedom to express
oneself emerges: it is a question of gaining agency through the
disciplinary power of the networks.
Online processes appear to govern actions in the offline social realm.
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

11. Through a sociological lens
Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck: Increased individualization and
reflexivity. Intimacy is an important feature of late modern personal
relationships.
George Ritzer: McDonaldization of self and subjectivity; an
interrelationship between efficiency, calculability, predictability
and control through nonhuman technology. It often leads to
the opposites of the four features (inefficiency, unpredictability,
incalculability and loss of control).
Michel Foucault: Subjectivation through subjection: it is through the
impossibility of exceeding the rules of the social game that actors
can engage in playing.
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

12. Through a sociological lens
Erich Fromm: The distinction between "freedom from" and "freedom
to" can provide a framework for analyzing the feelings of anxiety
that comes with the decline in traditional authority. Are the social
networks acting as yet another authoritarian system helping the
individual in contemporary society to cope with or perhaps eliminate
uncertainty by prescribing certain patterns of thought and action?
Christopher Lash: "In technological forms of life we make sense of
the world through technological systems" (2002: 15).
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

13. Where do I go from here?
Deepening the theoretical framework and analytical schemes.
Interrelating the characteristics of late modern society and different
conceptions of cultural/communicative capitalism.
Strengthening the conceptual constructions ”rationalized intimacy”
and ”disciplinary social networks”.
Narrowing down the scope of the study even further.
What are your suggestions?
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010

14. Thank you!
martin@goodold.se
twitter.com/martinberg
+46 73 54 65 010
Download this presentation from slideshare.net/drberg
Paper (to be) presented at the 3rd ESA Sociology of Culture RN mid-term conference, Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy, 9 october 2010