Superconnected: The Internet, Digital Media, and Techno-Social Life, Second Edition brings together the latest research from many relevant fields to examine how contemporary social life is mediated by various digital technologies: the internet, social media, and mobile devices. The book explores such topics as how digital technology led to the modern information age, information sharing and surveillance, how digital media shape socialization and development of the self, digital divides that separate groups in society, and the impact of digital media across social institutions. The author’s clear, nontechnical discussions and interdisciplinary synthesis make Superconnected an essential text for any course that examines how social life is affected when information and communication technology enter the picture.

Dr. Mary Chayko is a sociologist, Teaching Professor of Communication and Information, and Director of Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Studies at the School of Communication and Information (SC&I) at Rutgers University. For more on the author and for instructor resources, visit her book blog at http://superconnectedblog.com.

New to the Edition

Current events, the latest statistics and new research findings are reflected throughout the book, including richly-detailed sections on the rise of “fake” news and information, the human-machine relationship, and the history and implications of the “dark web” and the “deep web.” The book’s companion blog, superconnectedblog.com, now includes customizable lecture slides and discussion questions for each chapter. Short podcasts, recorded by the author and posted to her blog, provide fun, unique points of access to every chapter.