The Digital Social

The edited volume aims to present a critical analysis of the current state of research on religion and belief systems in the realm of the ‘Digital Social’. The rapid expansion and democratization of digital technologies in conjunction with the significant shifts taking place within the practices of religion and belief through digital technology demand a critical examination across the social sciences and humanities. These changes call for an overview of not only our current methodological tool box but also the epistemological and ethical considerations that researchers must contend with. The proposed volume provides a critical framework that recognizes that the social, and therefore the religious, cannot be fully understood without recognizing how the digital world actively constitutes notions such as identity, social networks, embodiment, and social institutions. While some specific methods will be discussed, the volume’s emphasis remains on the critical epistemological and logistical considerations that are needed when undertaking this form of research.

Much of the discussion about new technologies and social equality has focused on the oversimplified notion of a "digital divide." Technology and Social Inclusion moves beyond the limited view of haves and have-nots to analyze the different forms of access to information and communication technologies. Drawing on theory from political science, economics, sociology, psychology, communications, education, and linguistics, the book examines the ways in which differing access to technology contributes to social and economic stratification or inclusion. The book takes a global perspective, presenting case studies from developed and developing countries, including Brazil, China, Egypt, India, and the United States. A central premise is that, in today's society, the ability to access, adapt, and create knowledge using information and communication technologies is critical to social inclusion. This focus on social inclusion shifts the discussion of the "digital divide" from gaps to be overcome by providing equipment to social development challenges to be addressed through the effective integration of technology into communities, institutions, and societies. What is most important is not so much the physical availability of computers and the Internet but rather people's ability to make use of those technologies to engage in meaningful social practices.

Social media and digital technologies are transforming what and how we read. Books and Social Media considers the way in which readers and writers come together in digital communities to discover and create new works of fiction. This new way of engaging with fiction stretches the boundaries of what has been considered a book in the past by moving beyond the physical or even digitally bound object to the consideration of content, containers, and the ability to share. Using empirical data and up-to-date research methods, Miriam Johnson introduces the ways in which digitally social platforms give rise to a new type of citizen author who chooses to sidestep the industry’s gatekeepers and share their works directly with interested readers on social platforms. Gender and genre, especially, play a key role in developing the communities in which these authors write. The use of surveys, interviews, and data mining brings to the fore issues of gender, genre, community, and power, which highlight the push and pull between these writers and the industry. Questioning what we always thought we knew about what makes a book and traditional publishing channels, this book will be of interest to anyone studying or researching publishing, book history, print cultures, and digital and contemporary literatures.

This book will help students develop their understanding of how the internet is impacting on social work education and practice in 21st century. Essential reading for students interested in the influence of digital technology and social media, including the impact of digital divides, this book looks at how the value-base of social work can have a positive effect on service users and carers who engage with digital services.

Social media platforms are powerful tools that can help organizations to gather user preferences and build profiles of consumers. These sites add value to business activities, including market research, co-creation, new product development, and brand and customer management. Understanding and correctly incorporating these tools into daily business operations is essential for organizational success. Managing Social Media Practices in the Digital Economy is an essential reference source that facilitates an understanding of diverse social media tools and platforms and their impact on society, business, and the economy and illustrates how online communities can benefit the domains of marketing, finance, and information technology. Featuring research on topics such as mobile technology, service quality, and consumer engagement, this book is ideally designed for managers, managing directors, executives, marketers, industry professionals, social media analysts, academicians, researchers, and students.

Digital and Social Media Marketing: A Results-Driven Approach is an exciting new industry-led, research-informed and results-driven guide to digital commerce. Its examples draw from SMEs and from Europe to offer a unique perspective for those learning about digital marketing and, having been developed in close collaboration with the Search Engine Marketing Trade Association (SEMTA), it is a reliable source of prevailing industry standards for practitioners at the cutting edge of their trade. Unlike other digital marketing texts, this accessible textbook gives special consideration to the ethical challenges raised by an increasingly digital world. Equally unique is the book’s Digital Business Maturity Model, which offers organisations a clear roadmap for understanding their relative levels of technology adoption. Embracing the true spirit of Digital and Social Media Marketing, the book will be the first of its kind in this field with digital learning materials, case studies and exercises available in a supporting Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). The MOOC will enhance learners’ experience and create an interactive international learning community. This book will provide a hands on, accessible and user friendly platform to turn skills and knowledge into strategic advantage. Ideal for postgraduate learners, instructors interested in providing a unique and up-to-date learning experience and for SMEs and practitioners aiming to be at the cutting edge of Digital and Social Media Marketing.

Social welfare is riddled with ingrained problems that have already defeated all standard approaches, and reform calls for counterintuitive action. Digital Social Innovation (DSI) is primarily about promoting grassroots initiatives to address localized societal problems, and is not normally talked about in relation to welfare reform, but perhaps social innovation initiatives, with their localized and case-based approach, could help to solve the enormous structural problems faced by our welfare democracies today. This book addresses the potential and implications of DSI for the reform of the European welfare state. The 14 papers collected here focus on key issues, such as the nature of social innovation and its effects; scaling up to address structural problems and make systemic change; new social risks and challenges; the role of digital thinking and emerging technologies; public governance approaches; tolerance of institutions; integrating innovation in the welfare system; and the empowerment of marginalized citizens. These topics are examined from an integrated and multi-disciplinary perspective, taking into consideration not only current EU debate on policy trends for social protection, but also the nature of digital transformation and its effects on social change. The book also highlights barriers to adoption, as well as the potential limitations and failures of this emerging approach. Digital social innovation is an emerging discipline that deserves more attention from policy makers and more resources from government. Drawing on welfare studies, political science, sociology, psychology, law and computer science, this book will be of interest to researchers, practitioners and policy makers alike.

As citizens, we must all take responsibility for our own health to some extent, and recent developments in medical informatics have provided some valuable new ways to help us do that. This book presents the proceedings of the 2020 Special Topic Conference of the European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI STC 2020), held for the first time as a virtual conference on 26 & 27 November 2020, due to restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Entitled Integrated citizen centered digital health and social care – Citizens as data producers and service co-creators, this conference focused on the citizen-centered aspects of health informatics. This topic provided the opportunity for contributors to present innovative solutions to allow citizens to take greater responsibility for their health with the help of information and communication technology, and the 52 presented papers published here cover a wide range of areas under the broad, invited subject headings of: tools and technologies to support citizen-centered digital services; capacity building to enhance the development and use of digital services; confidentiality, data integrity and data protection to guarantee trustworthy services; citizen safety in digital services; effectiveness and impact of citizen-digital and integrated health and social services; evaluation approaches and methods for digital services; usability, usefulness and user acceptance of digital services; and guidelines for the successful implementation of digital services for citizens. Offering a current overview of research and applications, the book will be of interest to all those health professionals working to increase citizen use of digital healthcare.