Wellman & Rainie, “The New Social Operating System of Networked Individualism”
Wellman, Barry, and Lee Rainie. “The New Social Operating System of Networked
Individualism.” Networked: The New Social Operating System, The MIT Press, 2012,
pp. 3-20.
Wellman and Rainie introduce the concept of “networked individualism,” which encompasses the ways in which people connect, communicate, and exchange information. They explain that networked individualism differs from past networks because it is less tied to the local community. Instead, networked individualism is located around looser, more fragmented networks that are both diverse and overlapping. While this kind of network offers more freedom, it also requires more active participation, including choosing what tools to use, when to use them, and who to use them with. Additionally, Wellman and Rainie explain that networked individuals are impacted by the triple revolution--social network, internet, and mobile--by shifting people’s social lives toward more diverse, far-flung, personal networks. Despite these shifts, the authors argue that people are not isolated individualists: “Many meet their social, emotional, and economic needs by tapping into sparsely knit networks of diverse associates rather than relying on tight connections to a relatively small number of core associates” (12). Though Wellman and Rainie do not discuss OWI in this chapter, their conceptualization of networked individualism certainly has implications for online learning. If we view students as networked individuals, we might be better able to account for the complex identities that students fashion in the online course, help to foster an online community among students, and help students to navigate the continual blurring between public/private and work/home. Networked individualism also invites us to acknowledge the problem of access: participating in online networks--including online writing courses--requires that one actively networks, devoting time, effort, and sometimes money to maintain connections. They must also choose which tools to use and when, remember which members are useful for what sorts of things, and help to create alliances between members who might otherwise remain unconnected (9). While anyone can potentially tap into digital networks, to use them effectively requires being digitally literate, which necessitates a great deal of active participation and the use of a variety of skills, all of which must be learned.
Individualism.” Networked: The New Social Operating System, The MIT Press, 2012,
pp. 3-20.
Wellman and Rainie introduce the concept of “networked individualism,” which encompasses the ways in which people connect, communicate, and exchange information. They explain that networked individualism differs from past networks because it is less tied to the local community. Instead, networked individualism is located around looser, more fragmented networks that are both diverse and overlapping. While this kind of network offers more freedom, it also requires more active participation, including choosing what tools to use, when to use them, and who to use them with. Additionally, Wellman and Rainie explain that networked individuals are impacted by the triple revolution--social network, internet, and mobile--by shifting people’s social lives toward more diverse, far-flung, personal networks. Despite these shifts, the authors argue that people are not isolated individualists: “Many meet their social, emotional, and economic needs by tapping into sparsely knit networks of diverse associates rather than relying on tight connections to a relatively small number of core associates” (12). Though Wellman and Rainie do not discuss OWI in this chapter, their conceptualization of networked individualism certainly has implications for online learning. If we view students as networked individuals, we might be better able to account for the complex identities that students fashion in the online course, help to foster an online community among students, and help students to navigate the continual blurring between public/private and work/home. Networked individualism also invites us to acknowledge the problem of access: participating in online networks--including online writing courses--requires that one actively networks, devoting time, effort, and sometimes money to maintain connections. They must also choose which tools to use and when, remember which members are useful for what sorts of things, and help to create alliances between members who might otherwise remain unconnected (9). While anyone can potentially tap into digital networks, to use them effectively requires being digitally literate, which necessitates a great deal of active participation and the use of a variety of skills, all of which must be learned.
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