Comments on: Detecting Social Media Bullshit: A Sociologist’s View

By: No More Gurus » Blog Archive » Great Anti Social Media Guru stuff

No More Gurus » Blog Archive » Great Anti Social Media Guru stuff — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:38:58 +0000

[...] Detecting Social Media Bullshit: A Sociologist’s View [...]

By: TheophileEscargot from Hulver's site

TheophileEscargot from Hulver's site — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 09:56:28 +0000

Back on the bus…

Reading: “The Bus We Loved”, “In the Land of Invented Languages”. Web. What I’m Reading The Bus We Loved: London’s Affair with the Routemaster is a slim exercise in nostalgia by Travis Elborough, who looks a bit too young to be indulging in it. I…

By: Sociology as Bullshit Detector | The Global Sociology Blog

Sociology as Bullshit Detector | The Global Sociology Blog — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:29:37 +0000

[...] feed for updates on this topic.Powered by Greet BoxVia my Twitter stream, I discovered this older post by Sam Sladner (who proves that there is life outside of academia for social scientists, no really) [...]

By: John's Fac-o-blog » Blog Archive » On qualitative research…

John's Fac-o-blog » Blog Archive » On qualitative research… — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:55:01 +0000

[...] is worth reading, as is most of her blog. Of special interest in these social media-frenzy times is this [...]

By: Sam Ladner

Sam Ladner — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:35:38 +0000

Thanks for the kudos, Samuel!

By: junkbuddhist

junkbuddhist — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:28:35 +0000

Brilliant. As a web consultant with a background in Sociology and Philosophy, I too have been highly skeptical of this latest fad.

The more people try to “game” systems with low barriers to entry, the more those systems will revert to old structural rules. Where as 4 years ago, I would suggest to a small business owner to attempt to work at SEO strategies, I now just sit down and calculate how much he can spend on AdWords.

Bravo!

By: Sam Ladner

Sam Ladner — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:32:15 +0000

Yes, Twitter is bigger than Norway…but then most people on Twitter never speak to anyone, don’t interact with anyone! So, not Norway really!

By: Sjors

Sjors — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:25:31 +0000

My favourite is “if facebook were a country it would be the 4th largest in the world” or there are more people on Twitter than living in Norway. The enthusiasm about these powerpoins is beyond borders though

By: Sam Ladner

Sam Ladner — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:52:03 +0000

Hi Peter,
Thanks for the comment. You’d really enjoy another recent post I wrote on social capital actually. Social capital has been typically thought of as something one “invests in,” or as you put it, through “social actions.” I’ve never been convinced of this; it underplays the role social institutions have in shaping advantage. Mario Luis Small recently argued that organizations actually create social capital by creating opportunities for people to interact, thereby creating social capital. I’m more aligned with this way of thinking.

Does social capital happen by people interacting in certain, concerted ways? Of course. But I believe social institutions are more important than you may give them credit for.

By: Peter Corbett

Peter Corbett — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:59:11 +0000

Good post. One thing:

Social capital isn’t just developed by being in “particular social locations”. In fact, it seems to be more often generated via specific “social actions” that one takes of the course of a life.

Social capital accumulates, and can be distributed – I can do good things for my community…accumulate ‘good will’, a ‘great reputation’ etc. and those things can be leveged to gain benefits that are tangible.

I could go on and on…but my point is that actions are more important that one’s station (or stops) in life.