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Digital Media and Society Series
Personal Connections in the Digital Age
The internet and the mobile phone have disrupted many of our conventional understandings of ourselves and our relationships, raising anxieties and hopes about their effects on our lives. In this second edition of her timely and vibrant book, Nancy Baym provides frameworks for thinking critically about the roles of digital media in personal relationships. Rather than providing exuberant accounts or cautionary tales, it offers a data-grounded primer on how to make sense of these important changes in relational lifeFully updated to reflect new developments in technology and digital scholarship, the book identifies the core relational issues these media disturb and shows how our talk about them echoes historical discussions about earlier communication technologies. Chapters explore how we use mediated language and nonverbal behavior to develop and maintain communities, social networks, and new relationships, and to maintain existing relationships in our everyday lives. The book combines research findings with lively examples to address questions such Can mediated interaction be warm and personal? Are people honest about themselves online? Can relationships that start online work? Do digital media damage the other relationships in our lives? Throughout, the book argues that these questions must be answered with firm understandings of media qualities and the social and personal contexts in which they are developed and used.This new edition of Personal Connections in the Digital Age will be required reading for all students and scholars of media, communication studies, and sociology, as well as all those who want a richer understanding of digital media and everyday life.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 17, 2010
47 people are currently reading
349 people want to read
About the author
Nancy K. Baym
7 books9 followersNancy K. Baym is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is the author and co-editor of four books about audiences, relationships, and the internet, including Personal Connections in the Digital Age. More information, most of her articles, and some of her talks are available at nancybaym.com.
(Biography adapted from NYU Press, https://nyupress.org/books/9781479821...)
(Biography adapted from NYU Press, https://nyupress.org/books/9781479821...)
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
January 14, 2018
As academic books go, this one is quite accessible. Interesting perspectives on determinism (between humans and technology, who shapes who?) A lot of the points in the book were a bit obvious, but it helps that the author gives us language for terms like "media multiplexity" (when relationships are conducted through more than one medium.)
With the advent of AI/machine learning, it could use some updates.
With the advent of AI/machine learning, it could use some updates.
April 15, 2021
This was a great resource addition to my advanced research paper regarding social media and social connection. Comprehensively informative.
April 3, 2021
Summary: Great overview of the topic circa 2016. Covers the major psychological considerations and their impact on future social interaction.
p. 8 – Synchronous communication (phone calls, instant messages, etc), then you also have
P.9 Social groups
P. 30-31 Nice little time line of communication advancements from 1871 to 1915.
p. 34 “Socrates’ idea that writing provides “not truth, but only the semblance of truth” remains very much with us.” His deal was that he hated any intermediary between the spoken word and the obtaining of that word, in his time, via writing.
p.60 Talks about how to consider non-verbal cues and the entire discourse surrounding how to think about this in the modern world of intermediated communication.
p. 61 – The idea of anonymity given the disembodiment of written to actual person. The book alter discusses how most still maintain their actual voice/identity. At the same time, younger generations are cleverer about code names, words, and ways of interacting in the modern age.
P. 102 – “A 2012 survey of Americans (Brenner & Smith 2013) found that 66% of American adults who use social networking sites have used them to ‘engage in a range of activities around political or social issues,” such as posting content related to political/social topics or encouraging others to vote.”
P. 119 “Many people expect others to be deceptive in less fanciful ways online, masking motivations or distorting facts to manipulate others. As we will see below, what constitutes deception is complex, and even when people are deceptive online, there are many ways they can be and are called out. Furthermore, self-representations are just one source of information about others in networked enironments.”
p. 127 “In general, research does not support the idea that lean media make people lie.” Instead, people just tinker around the edges of their identity.
p. 145 Most of the ties people make online are weak times. Very few end up drifting into the inner circle
p. 8 – Synchronous communication (phone calls, instant messages, etc), then you also have
P.9 Social groups
P. 30-31 Nice little time line of communication advancements from 1871 to 1915.
p. 34 “Socrates’ idea that writing provides “not truth, but only the semblance of truth” remains very much with us.” His deal was that he hated any intermediary between the spoken word and the obtaining of that word, in his time, via writing.
p.60 Talks about how to consider non-verbal cues and the entire discourse surrounding how to think about this in the modern world of intermediated communication.
p. 61 – The idea of anonymity given the disembodiment of written to actual person. The book alter discusses how most still maintain their actual voice/identity. At the same time, younger generations are cleverer about code names, words, and ways of interacting in the modern age.
P. 102 – “A 2012 survey of Americans (Brenner & Smith 2013) found that 66% of American adults who use social networking sites have used them to ‘engage in a range of activities around political or social issues,” such as posting content related to political/social topics or encouraging others to vote.”
P. 119 “Many people expect others to be deceptive in less fanciful ways online, masking motivations or distorting facts to manipulate others. As we will see below, what constitutes deception is complex, and even when people are deceptive online, there are many ways they can be and are called out. Furthermore, self-representations are just one source of information about others in networked enironments.”
p. 127 “In general, research does not support the idea that lean media make people lie.” Instead, people just tinker around the edges of their identity.
p. 145 Most of the ties people make online are weak times. Very few end up drifting into the inner circle
March 19, 2013
The internet has allowed for a blurring and changing of social interaction and human communication. It has not only allowed people to communicate across oceans when it was once impossible, but it allows instant communication all over the world.
This change creates a dichotomy between public and private: copyrighted and shared content, mass and interpersonal, fascinating and mundane, and physical and digital - for instance, if someone really is a part of a "real life" conversation if he or she is focused on a cell phone or computer. People refer to their real life and their virtual identity as if they were two completely separate lives instead of one wrapped up inside the other, or their physical life revolves around their virtual one.
Phones and the internet allow for interaction without physical interaction. People build friendships entirely based on online profiles, which may or may not be accurate. The important aspects of face to face interaction are often forgotten in preference to text which is less personal and easier to use when dealing with emotional issues.
This book also goes through the shift from personal communication on a physical level to that of a digital level. The shift is gradual, but it changes the way we interact at a ever faster rate as the internet becomes ever more accessible through phones and other mediums.
This book is a well written and interesting read which emphasizes key issues regarding the digital age. This phenomenon allows for great progression and greater communication and connection while also pushing for fewer real life connections as people put their digital life before their regular interactions - this is easily seen in the use of a cell phone when other people are present.
Insightful and enjoyable. I'd love to see what the author has to say on the topic in a few years when we have moved further in this digital direction.
This change creates a dichotomy between public and private: copyrighted and shared content, mass and interpersonal, fascinating and mundane, and physical and digital - for instance, if someone really is a part of a "real life" conversation if he or she is focused on a cell phone or computer. People refer to their real life and their virtual identity as if they were two completely separate lives instead of one wrapped up inside the other, or their physical life revolves around their virtual one.
Phones and the internet allow for interaction without physical interaction. People build friendships entirely based on online profiles, which may or may not be accurate. The important aspects of face to face interaction are often forgotten in preference to text which is less personal and easier to use when dealing with emotional issues.
This book also goes through the shift from personal communication on a physical level to that of a digital level. The shift is gradual, but it changes the way we interact at a ever faster rate as the internet becomes ever more accessible through phones and other mediums.
This book is a well written and interesting read which emphasizes key issues regarding the digital age. This phenomenon allows for great progression and greater communication and connection while also pushing for fewer real life connections as people put their digital life before their regular interactions - this is easily seen in the use of a cell phone when other people are present.
Insightful and enjoyable. I'd love to see what the author has to say on the topic in a few years when we have moved further in this digital direction.
June 24, 2012
This book was published in 2010 as part of the digital media and society series to share how new technologies are impacting our lives and altering our communication. As I research and compile information on digital media and its impact for learning and training for my literature review I thought this academic work provided a solid overview of digital relationships. By sharing the evolution of technology, mediated communication, and online community development, Nancy Baym presents both theoretical frameworks and historical perspectives about digital media's influence on our society and personal relationships.
Baym provides an overview of interpersonal communication, and she threads both academic research and societal practices of digital media use in this book. As an academic text, there are a number of detailed references and theoretical underpinnings that I have flagged to follow-up as I edit my own literature review. For others who might not be researching and writing in this area, I think this book is still accessible and an interesting read as digital and social media consumes our lives. The technical jargon is kept to a minimum and the writing flows well with research, examples, and anecdotes intertwined in the text.
As I read this book, it was easy to reflect on my personal connections and how digital media shapes my PLN. I thought about how great it is to have peers and communities that I can interact with and play in - without being geographically close to them. I thought fondly of those relationships that have been either been initiated online or mediated digitally from a distance, and I am thankful for how digital media as evolved. For anyone who is interested in personal digital connections and what it means to be "connected" to a learning network, I think you will enjoy this book.
Baym provides an overview of interpersonal communication, and she threads both academic research and societal practices of digital media use in this book. As an academic text, there are a number of detailed references and theoretical underpinnings that I have flagged to follow-up as I edit my own literature review. For others who might not be researching and writing in this area, I think this book is still accessible and an interesting read as digital and social media consumes our lives. The technical jargon is kept to a minimum and the writing flows well with research, examples, and anecdotes intertwined in the text.
As I read this book, it was easy to reflect on my personal connections and how digital media shapes my PLN. I thought about how great it is to have peers and communities that I can interact with and play in - without being geographically close to them. I thought fondly of those relationships that have been either been initiated online or mediated digitally from a distance, and I am thankful for how digital media as evolved. For anyone who is interested in personal digital connections and what it means to be "connected" to a learning network, I think you will enjoy this book.
Read
July 29, 2010A very interesting study of online communication, relationships, and communities. I read it to provide some context for a research project of my own on online defamation, but I found as I read that the book had me thinking more deeply not so much about my work as about my social activity online. It's an academic work complete with detailed references that I'm looking forward to following up. But for those of you interested in the topic who don't generally gravitate toward academic books, I don't think that the references would interrupt the flow of the book for you, and it's admirably free of jargon. I was thinking mostly of Maud-L as I read, and I suspect some of my fellow Maudlers would enjoy the insight that the book offers into the formation and operation of online communities such as ours.
November 29, 2017
I see this book not as an investigation about internet and fandom communities, but as a book by a fan of internet communities. It reads more as an enthusiast about the internet and tis possibilities than as an actual study of the topic involved. This in and of itself wouldn’t be a problem, but it does not read as a good enthusiastic piece either. We have better work coming out regarding the “possibilities of the internet” from other authors. Besides, I personally don’t feel a research and a book was necessary to come with conclusions such as how diverse the personal connections are in the digital age. I’d expect this to be the starting point of any analysis in the 21st century, not its main argument.
In a nutshell, I don’t see this book contributing much to the understanding of the topic it engages with, nor being useful to those who wish to work with “the digital” in their own work.
In a nutshell, I don’t see this book contributing much to the understanding of the topic it engages with, nor being useful to those who wish to work with “the digital” in their own work.
September 14, 2023
This was a relatively interesting book that I'm sure had more direct relevance to the communication/technology environment of its era; but even today, there are definitely some interesting conceptual ideas at work here and the book still acts as an especially useful repository of sources/information/studies that are helpful. My biggest issue with the book is that it seems dismissive of some theories that are still held and debated by a lot of people, namely those regarding technological determinism. There is plenty of evidence and debate to doubt the usefulness of those theories, but people do still talk and think about them, and so the tone the book took towards those theories felt strangely unhelpful in an otherwise interesting volume.
December 17, 2024
Rating: 3.5/5
A well-rounded primer on digital cultures. As the author writes herself, many examples within the book are quite outdated. This made chapters, at times, quite cumbersome to read. Regardless, Baym has made a significant contribution to the foundational understanding of digital culture. I recommend this book to anyone starting out in this area of scholarship, noting that it's a jumping-off point and should be paired with newer texts that include more on social media and other advancements in knowledge.
A well-rounded primer on digital cultures. As the author writes herself, many examples within the book are quite outdated. This made chapters, at times, quite cumbersome to read. Regardless, Baym has made a significant contribution to the foundational understanding of digital culture. I recommend this book to anyone starting out in this area of scholarship, noting that it's a jumping-off point and should be paired with newer texts that include more on social media and other advancements in knowledge.
July 15, 2021
I had to read this for a grad school class, and I actually think it's worth reading in general. It has some of the format and language of a higher education book, but overall presents itself in a format that's easy for the reader to understand.
It explores how technology has changed us, how it will continue to change us, and what that means for relationships now and in the future.
It explores how technology has changed us, how it will continue to change us, and what that means for relationships now and in the future.
February 23, 2023
Had to read the 2015 version of the book for my communication in social media college class. I am pretty sure that the newer version would be much more updated but the 2015 version quotes Last.fm and myspace. Two websites that don’t exist anymore. I am also very sure that my younger classmates probably had to Google what MySpace is. (RiP i am old).
November 25, 2017
Very readable, and a definite must-read for anyone working, even tangentially, with personal interaction through the internet.
January 9, 2018
Downright fascinating, and useful.
February 5, 2017
2.5 Stars
March 21, 2017
Also posted on Eva Lucias blog
Nancy Baym investigates what the effect of social media has been on our social interaction: ‘What does personal communication mean when it’s transmitted through a mass medium? […] What do ‘private’ and ‘public’ mean anymore? What does it even mean to be real?’
Kenneth Gergen deals with the struggle of presence: ‘of being physically present yet at the same time, being mentally and emotionally present somewhere else [online on social media]’ (ibid.). These claims show an individual in psychological struggle. It has become more difficult to distinguish what is real and what is staged – what is posted on social media, statements from celebrities and also statements from the regular online user. Can the individual fake itself to a new identity online, which is more glamourized than the actual identity behind the screen? As Baym claims:
‘Personal identity refers to the aspects of our selves that distinguish us from others. This includes things like values, traits, tastes and biographies […] Some of these are involuntary – our ethnicities, sex, [and] sexual orientation’ (118).
The question is if we have become too influenced, possibly manipulated, by what is considered accepted to like, be interested in or how to behave and act in social conventions. Does popular culture set the course of what we should like or be interested in as individuals? Do we choose to follow a celebrity online because we feel actual fascination or respect? Are we affected by others people’s opinions or are we simply curious? In 2016 where we are highly affected by life online, it is difficult to distinguish what are truly our own ideas and values, and what society and the media expect us to feel and think.
Blog ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Youtube ~ Spotify
Nancy Baym investigates what the effect of social media has been on our social interaction: ‘What does personal communication mean when it’s transmitted through a mass medium? […] What do ‘private’ and ‘public’ mean anymore? What does it even mean to be real?’
Kenneth Gergen deals with the struggle of presence: ‘of being physically present yet at the same time, being mentally and emotionally present somewhere else [online on social media]’ (ibid.). These claims show an individual in psychological struggle. It has become more difficult to distinguish what is real and what is staged – what is posted on social media, statements from celebrities and also statements from the regular online user. Can the individual fake itself to a new identity online, which is more glamourized than the actual identity behind the screen? As Baym claims:
‘Personal identity refers to the aspects of our selves that distinguish us from others. This includes things like values, traits, tastes and biographies […] Some of these are involuntary – our ethnicities, sex, [and] sexual orientation’ (118).
The question is if we have become too influenced, possibly manipulated, by what is considered accepted to like, be interested in or how to behave and act in social conventions. Does popular culture set the course of what we should like or be interested in as individuals? Do we choose to follow a celebrity online because we feel actual fascination or respect? Are we affected by others people’s opinions or are we simply curious? In 2016 where we are highly affected by life online, it is difficult to distinguish what are truly our own ideas and values, and what society and the media expect us to feel and think.
Blog ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Youtube ~ Spotify
July 21, 2023
forced to read this for a class, didn’t enjoy it, wasn’t the worst (I got a 7,6/10 for the class, i feel better about this book now it kinda helped me :))
June 18, 2013
This author prefers to see technology as being molded and created by humans who are driven to connect rather than technology changing our very essence. I have been ruminating and as I am basically an idealist, I would love to believe her. I have also seen some damming scientific evidence that is beginning to mount that is showing how it can change our neuronal pathways and what we desire. I read this in preparation of meeting with Communication Skills mentors and how we could best prepare LLL leaders to meet mothers where they are most comfortable. I loved it. I didn't give Max stars since she cited her own body of work more than I was comfortable (although, who knows, maybe she is the only one doing any research here). I also felt she didn't adequately explore the cons of technological communication because of her own biases. I loved delving into this subject and I think this will not be my last foray.
November 21, 2020
2020-07-05 读过 标签: 传播学 大部分是综述，更想看一些结合心理学的分析，略失望。在社交网络时代，身份是匿名的，情感是真的；身份是真的，情感是隐藏的。稀疏的社交线索为自我呈现和想象他人留下了空间，人与人在网上的距离也是解放思想的某种自由。一边读一边对照国内的微博微信豆瓣小组，数字媒体不会摧毁也不会拯救人类社会，是因为人不该由技术奴役。我们总会最终适应这片“平行时空”，如同千百年来适应其他各式各样的变化一样。
July 17, 2010
Read this to consider using it in teaching - a really great overview of the issues of interpersonal communication and digital media.
February 18, 2011
A solid and clear engagement with digitized communication. I was particularly impressed by the exploration of how digitized media is domesticated.
June 24, 2012
insightful and well-written.
September 5, 2012
An "Absolute Must-Have" for anyone in new-media. Nancy Baym takes you on a journey into the new-media landscape with a perspective that is lucid and definitely cannot be ignored.
December 12, 2013
Very interesting textbook, informal and unbiased. A great introduction to digital communication.
Read
September 7, 2014Read for uni. Not rating it because I feel like I can't rate this type of book.
August 31, 2016
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14175945
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14175945
March 28, 2017
This book is good for keeping the reader up to date on current developments in research about the relational aspects of new communication technologies. Nancy Baym is clearly one of the experts on the topic.
The book is good for undergraduate college classes. It read more as a glorified literature review than one that advances many of its own arguments. I suppose I was a bit disappointed because I was hoping it would read more as a monograph than a lit. review. This is not intended to be a slight to the book or the author, it does what it does very well. It's very thorough and written in an accessible style.
I think my research orientation also influenced my reading of this book. I am intrigued by media ecology perspectives on the role of media technologies and society. Baym repeatedly argues why technological deterministic perspectives are incomplete or, perhaps, reactionary. It's good to have a moderate voice like hers in the scholarly conversation, though she often tended toward optimism in ways that were grating to me at times.
Still, this is the best introductory book on the topic out there. It's a great resource to all those who are interested in the role of social media, specifically, and relationships.
The book is good for undergraduate college classes. It read more as a glorified literature review than one that advances many of its own arguments. I suppose I was a bit disappointed because I was hoping it would read more as a monograph than a lit. review. This is not intended to be a slight to the book or the author, it does what it does very well. It's very thorough and written in an accessible style.
I think my research orientation also influenced my reading of this book. I am intrigued by media ecology perspectives on the role of media technologies and society. Baym repeatedly argues why technological deterministic perspectives are incomplete or, perhaps, reactionary. It's good to have a moderate voice like hers in the scholarly conversation, though she often tended toward optimism in ways that were grating to me at times.
Still, this is the best introductory book on the topic out there. It's a great resource to all those who are interested in the role of social media, specifically, and relationships.
April 18, 2017
Had to read for HNRS 150B2: Exploring Electronic Presence. She rambled a lot and didn't explain things very well at the beginning. Was a bit boring... nothing exciting.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews