By the time you reach Globalisation and the Digital Social World, you have already studied many of sociology’s central ideas: socialisation, culture, identity, inequality, power and social control. This section brings those ideas together and applies them to the increasingly digital and globally connected society in which we live.

The first Cambridge OCR core question is:

What is the relationship between globalisation and digital forms of communication?

The focus is not simply on smartphones, social media or new technology. Instead, sociologists are interested in how digital communication is changing social relationships, spreading cultures and ideas across national borders, creating new communities and identities, and potentially changing who has power in society.

Globalisation and digital communication

Globalisation refers broadly to the increasing connections between societies across the world. These connections can be economic, political, social and cultural. Businesses can operate across several countries, political campaigns can organise internationally, and music, films, fashions and ideas can circulate rapidly between societies. One difficulty is that globalisation is not a single process: its different economic, political and social dimensions often overlap.

Digital communication has accelerated many of these processes. The digital revolution describes the rapid development of computers, smartphones, the internet and digital networks. Information that once took days or weeks to travel can now cross the world almost instantly. This has contributed to what is sometimes described as a global village: a situation in which communication technology makes geographical distance seem less important because people can experience events, cultures and relationships taking place thousands of miles away.

Other important concepts include virtual communities, where people form relationships and groups online rather than through physical location, and the networked global society, where individuals, organisations and institutions become increasingly connected through digital networks. Social media is an important part of this because it allows people to communicate, produce content, form identities and participate in global networks.

Virtual communities and changing relationships

Traditionally, communities were often linked to places such as neighbourhoods, schools, workplaces or religious organisations. Digital communication means communities no longer have to be based in a particular physical location. People can join virtual communities based around gaming, music, politics, hobbies, identities or lifestyles and interact with people they may never meet face to face.

This creates an important sociological debate. Digital communication may increase freedom by allowing people to meet others who share their interests or experiences. However, online communities may also create conflict, isolation or closed groups in which people mainly interact with those who hold similar views. Digital communication can therefore create both greater connection and new forms of division.

Postmodernism: identity, diversity and hyper-reality

Postmodernism focuses particularly on the ways digital communication may increase diversity, choice and flexibility in identity. Online, people can select how they present themselves, join global communities and encounter cultures and lifestyles that would previously have been difficult to access. Digital society may therefore make identities less dependent upon someone’s immediate location or traditional social groups.

A key postmodern concept is hyper-reality. This refers to situations where the distinction between reality and media representation becomes increasingly difficult to identify. Social media, edited photographs, online personalities and digitally constructed lifestyles can all shape how people understand themselves and others.

For postmodernists, the digital world can therefore contribute to more diverse and fluid identities. However, sociologists also question how much freedom individuals really have when the platforms through which identities are constructed are owned and controlled by powerful organisations.

Marxism and neo-Marxism: ownership, ideology and power

Marxist and neo-Marxist approaches focus on power and inequality. Although digital communication can appear open and democratic, the major platforms and technologies people use are owned and controlled by organisations. This leads Marxists to consider ownership and control, ideological control and the means of production.

Ownership and control asks who owns digital platforms and therefore has influence over how they operate. Ideological control considers whether digital media can shape people’s ideas, beliefs and understanding of society. The means of production refers to the resources used to produce wealth; in a digital society, this can be applied to the ownership of technologies, platforms and networks through which digital content is produced and distributed.

From this perspective, digital communication does not automatically create greater freedom. Sociologists can instead ask who controls information, who profits from people’s online activity and whether digital capitalism creates new forms of inequality.

Feminism: patriarchy, exploitation and fourth-wave feminism

Feminism examines digital communication in relation to gender inequalities and patriarchy. Digital spaces may reproduce inequalities already found elsewhere in society through harassment, discrimination or exploitation. In this sense, new technology does not necessarily remove traditional gender inequalities.

However, digital communication can also be a source of resistance. Fourth-wave feminism is particularly associated with the use of digital technology and social media to share experiences, challenge sexism and organise campaigns. Digital communication can therefore both reproduce patriarchal inequalities and provide tools through which those inequalities can be challenged.

This illustrates an important theme throughout the topic: the same technology can produce both opportunities and problems.

Social capital, access and inequality

The benefits of digital communication are not experienced equally. The concept of social capital refers to the resources people may gain through their relationships and social networks. Digital communication can potentially increase social capital by allowing people to develop wider networks and access information, opportunities and support.

However, this depends upon access. Not everyone has the same quality of devices, internet connection, digital skills or opportunities to participate online. Existing inequalities can therefore affect who benefits most from the digital world. This links to the wider idea of the digital divide, which considers inequalities in access to and use of digital technology.

This connects directly with earlier work on social stratification and life chances. Digital technology may create new opportunities, but those opportunities may be shaped by inequalities that already exist in society.

Social order, social control and conflict

Digital communication can also be examined through the wider sociological debates of social order, social control and conflict. Cambridge OCR expects students to consider how digital communication may help maintain social order but may also challenge existing forms of authority.

Social control becomes particularly important. Digital technologies can allow governments, organisations and individuals to monitor behaviour and influence what information people encounter. At the same time, social media can allow individuals and groups to challenge powerful institutions, organise protests or circulate ideas without relying on traditional media organisations.

Digital communication may therefore support existing social structures while also creating opportunities for social change and conflict.

Bringing the ideas together

The relationship between globalisation and digital communication is best understood as a two-way process. Globalisation encourages the growth of international communication networks, while digital communication makes further global connections easier and faster. Each process therefore helps to strengthen the other.

Key ideas and concepts

Area	Key terms and ideas
Globalisation	Increasing global connections; social, economic and political globalisation
Digital development	Digital revolution, global village, networked global society
Community	Virtual communities, global networks
Postmodernism	Diversity, identity, choice, hyper-reality
Marxism / neo-Marxism	Ownership and control, ideological control, means of production
Feminism	Patriarchy, exploitation, fourth-wave feminism
Inequality	Social capital, access, digital divide
Wider debates	Social order, social control, conflict, social change

The most important point is that sociologists are not simply studying technology. They are studying what digital technology reveals about society. Smartphones, social networks and online communities matter because they can influence culture, relationships, identity, inequality and power.

As you study this section, keep returning to four questions: Who is connected? Who controls those connections? Who benefits from them? What social consequences follow?

These questions turn the study of digital communication into sociology.

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