Cyber-sociology: Applying sociological imagination online

Cyber-sociology is a fast developing field. Large internet companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are hiring sociologists in order to understand and harness the social power of the Internet. Marc Smith a sociologist at Microsoft Research believes that thanks to the vast amount of sociological data on the internet it is possible for sociologists to apply their sociological imagination. He cites the example of Netscan, a unit of Microsoft Research that makes available sociological data gleaned from internet online communities such as Usenet to the researchers.

According to the NetScan website the Netscan System "provides detailed reports on the activity of Usenet newsgroups, the authors who participate in them, and the conversation threads that emerge from their activity. Using the Netscan tool users can get reports about any newsgroup for any day, week, month, quarter, or year, since September 1999".

Read Marc Smith's interview with Tech Review website here.

Australia opposes .XXX Internet Domains

Citing a long standing Australian policy to reduce offensive adult material online, Australia's Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Helen Coonan has shot off a letter of protest to Vint Cerf the chief of ICANN, the body that adminsters Internet Domain Names. How ICANN responds remains to be seen.

The original letter is here.

Reverse Outsourcing

If there can be reverse racism, can reverse outsourcing be far behind? According to a story in LA Times the Indian Embassy is going to outsource some visa-related work to an American firm.

This is a good "man bites dog" story. For a moment I thought as if I have coined a new terminology "reverse outsourcing" but a quick Google check put my excitement to rest.

LA TIMES India to outsource paperwork to American firm

India has taken thousands of American jobs through outsourcing. Now it's giving a few back.The Indian government plans to outsource processing of visas (visitor documents, not the credit cards) from its embassy in Washington to an American based company. A top embassy official wouldn't say whether the 40 staffers who do the jobs now would be laid off. Many of them are Indian nationals. "We are not going to let too many go," said Gautam Bambawale, head of political affairs at the embassy. UC Berkeley professor Harley Shaiken, who specializes in labor issues, said the move "is really a man bites dog kind of story. It's a small irony in an otherwise serious situation." He said outsourcing of tech help lines, accounting work and even medical procedures played a significant role in the $11.7-billion U.S. trade deficit with India last year.

Some UNESCO Documents

UNESCO | Education - Higher Education in a Globalized Society

Link to UNESCO | Education - Higher Education in a Globalized Society

 

Joseph Stiglitz : The subtle truth about globalization: UNESCO 

Link to Joseph Stiglitz : The subtle truth about globalization: UNESCO