The Digital Practices of African Americans ─ An Approach to Studying Cultural Change in the Information Society

This volume examines the use of information and communication technologies by African Americans through three case studies. It discusses the models of the information society, focusing on the writings of Daniel Bell, Manuel Castells, and Yochai Benkler; the digital divide metaphor as a lens that is too focused on the economy and technology; and a different way of approaching information and communication technologies use: a digital practice perspective that emphasizes the digital environment produced through interconnected information and communication technologies and practices that result when groups navigate this environment. Further chapters apply this perspective to examples of using technology to keep in touch with family, overcome a lack of weak ties, and develop an alternative, African American-centered narrative about societal events. It then argues that social policy should focus more on nurturing nonmarket spaces rather than focusing on business in the digital environment, and that the digital practice perspective can inform these policies. It also shows how street crimes known as flash robs are examples of how groups have leveraged the digital environment. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Roderick Graham (PhD, City University of New York Graduate Center) is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He has published articles in Sociology Compass, New Media & Society, and Information, Communication and Society.