Network Society

NETWORK SOCIETY

The societies will way back were so different from today societies whereby the network society is the society formed by the evolution of electronics and development of computers. The network society has enhanced the new economy. It cuts the limits of communication; it has brought a new way of thinking economy. If there would not be network society businesses would be limited to the local places.

Network society is the expression coined in 1981 related to the social, political, economy and cultural changes caused by the spread of networked, digital information and communication technology. The intellectual origin can be traced back to the work early social theorists such as George Sinnel who analyzed the effects of modernization and industrial capitalism on the complex patterns of affiliation, organizations, productions and experience.

The concept of network society is closely associated with the interpretation of the social implication of globalization and the role of electronic communication technologies in society. The definition of a network society given by fore most theorists of the concept, Emmanuel Castells (2004 pg 3) is that it is a society whose social structure is made up of networks powered by micro-electronic based information and communication technologies.

As Castells shows in his book historically, they have always been social networks: the key factor that distinguishes the network society they use Information and Communication   Technology (ICT) helps to create and sustain far flung networks in which new kinds of social relationships are created.

According to Castells   three processes led to the emergence of this new social structure (net work society) in the late 20^th century:

·         The restructuring the industrial economies to accommodate an open market approach.

·         The freedom oriented cultural movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the civil right movement, the feminist movement and the environmental movement.

·         The revolution in information and communication technology (ICT).

Information has been a central firm in 21^st century research, just as capital was in the 20^th century. It is frequently said that society is now living in an information age, which has provided various information technologies that is the internet and cellular phones. However, information age has not been   clearly defined. Although many define the current economy as an information economy, there is still no universally accepted definition to refer to the current society.

Castells claims that we are passing from industrial age into the information age. The change is brought about by the advent of new information technology particularly and biological technology. Societies remain capitalists but bases of the technology means by which it acts has changed from energy to information. This information is of central importance in determining economic productivity. Communication technologies allow for an annihilation of space and for globalization; the potential for rapid and asynchronous communication also change the relationship to time.

BY: TAMBA PHILLIP

        BAPRM-42679