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Network Society and Digital Culture

Code: 107735 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Interactive Communication FB 1

Contact

Name:
Cristina Pulido Rodriguez
Email:
cristina.pulido@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

The use of English is required for some readings.


Objectives and Contextualisation

  1. Understand the foundations of the network society and digital culture.

  2. Analyze the impact of social interactions on the development of technologies, its social and cultural impact.

  3. Deepen knowledge of theories about the network society and their implications for communication, the economy, and society.

  4. Reflect on the connection between network society theory and professional practice.


Learning Outcomes

  1. CM02 (Competence) Apply the fundamentals of the photographic, audiovisual and multimedia languages to develop interactive content, products, applications and services in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values, with inclusive and non-sexist proposals.
  2. CM02 (Competence) Apply the fundamentals of the photographic, audiovisual and multimedia languages to develop interactive content, products, applications and services in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values, with inclusive and non-sexist proposals.
  3. KM01 (Knowledge) Identify the foundations of the theories and history of interactive communication and the network society and their implications for communication, the economy and society.
  4. SM01 (Skill) Determine what is substantial and relevant in papers on the theory, history and structure of interactive communication and the network society.

Content

  1. Foundations of the network society and human rights

  2. Digital culture: cyberculture, technoculture, and cultural convergence

  3. Identity and subjectivity in digital environments and social media interactions

  4. Gender, diversity, and class in the age of artificial intelligence

  5. Participatory culture and networked activism: from spectators to prosumers

  6. Impact of disinformation on democratic quality and strategies to overcome it

  7. Challenges and social impact in the network society

     

    ** The course content will be sensitive to issues related to gender perspective and the use of inclusive language


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Activity preparation 20 0.8 CM02, KM01, SM01, CM02
Practical sessions 30 1.2 CM02, CM02
Theoretic classes 33 1.32 KM01, SM01, KM01
Type: Supervised      
Advisory projects 9 0.36 CM02, KM01, SM01, CM02

The course's methodology combines participatory theoretical sessions with spaces for reflective dialogue and guided independent work. Face-to-face classes are structured around the presentation of key concepts, authors, and analytical frameworks related to the network society and digital culture, complemented by guided discussions on essential texts or contemporary cases. These sessions foster active reading, connection with students’ everyday digital environments, and collective reflection on the social, political, and cultural implications of technology.

In addition, interspersed seminars will be scheduled to monitor and support the assessed activities, especially the case study through digital ethnography. These spaces enable students to share their progress, compare approaches, receive constructive feedback, and strengthen the connection between theory and practice. The course also relies on students’ independent work, including participation in discussion forums and the progressive development of their analytical projects. This methodological combination seeks to enhance both critical thinking and research competencies in the study of contemporary digital culture.

A detailed calendar with the content of each session will be presented on the first day of class. It will be available on the course’s Virtual Campus, where students will find all teaching materials and essential information for proper course tracking. In the event of a change in teaching modality due to force majeure, as determined by competent authorities, the teaching staff will inform students of any changes in the course schedule and methodology.

Fifteen minutes of one class will be reserved, within the schedule established by the faculty or degree program, for students to complete the surveys evaluating the teaching performance and the course/module.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Case Study of Online Activism or Cultural Phenomenon – Digital Ethnography 25% 20 0.8 CM02
Challenges of the Network Society 40% 35 1.4 CM02, KM01, SM01
Exam 35% 3 0.12 KM01, SM01

Case Study of Online Activism or Cultural Phenomenon – Digital Ethnography (individual)

This activity involves the individual analysis of a relevant case of activism or cultural phenomenon taking place in a digital environment (social media, online communities, digital platforms, etc.). Students will carry out a non-participant digital ethnographic observation, collecting qualitative data and interpreting it through the theoretical frameworks studied in the course. A detailed guide for the activity will be provided on the Virtual Campus.

Debates: Challenges of the Network Society (group)

Throughout the course, students will participate in group debates on current challenges related to the network society, such as algorithmic surveillance, disinformation, digital identity or technological inequality. Groups will prepare content based on assigned readings and audiovisual materials, and will be expected to defend reasoned positions, contrast viewpoints, and create spaces for collective reflection. A specific guide for the activity will be provided on the Virtual Campus.

Exam (individual)

The final exam aims to assess students' understanding of fundamental concepts, theoretical frameworks, and their ability to critically analyse the contents covered throughout the course.

Additionally, participation activities (in the course forum) may contribute up to 0.5 extra points to the final overall grade.

Students will have the right to retake the course if they have been assessed in activities that account for at least two-thirds of thetotal course grade.

Plagiarism

If a student commits any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade of an assessment, that assessment will be graded with a 0, regardless of any disciplinary proceedings that may follow. In the event of multiple irregularities in different assessments of the same course, the final grade will be 0.

Not assessable

According to point 9 of article 266 of the UAB Academic Regulations, if the student has not provided sufficient evidence of assessment, the course will be graded as not assessable.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in this course is permitted exclusively for support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, text correction, translations, or improving the design and formatting of a product. Students must clearly identify which parts were generated using AI, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these tools influenced the process and the final outcome. Lack of transparency in the use of AI in any assessable activity will be considered a breach of academic honesty and may result in partial or total grade penalties, or more serious sanctions in severe cases.


Bibliography

CASTELLS, MANUEL. (2013). Comunicación y poder. Siglo XXI Editores México.

JENKINS, HENRY (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: NYU Press.

JENKINS, HENRY & SHRESTHOVA, SANGITA (2020). Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative Social Change. New York: NYU Press.

LIEVROUW, LEAH. & LOADER BRIAN. (Eds.). (2019). Routledge Handbook of Digital Media and Communication in Society. Routledge.

PEREZ-TORNERO, JOSE MANUEL. (2020). La gran mediatización I: El tsunami mediático que expropia nuestras vidas. Del confinamiento digital a la sociedad de la distancia. Barcelona, UOC Press.

ROHLINGER, DEANA. (2019). New media and Society. New York: New York University Press-

SILVERSTONE, ROGER. (2013). Media and morality: On the rise of the mediapolis. John Wiley & Sons.

VAN DIJK, JAN A. G. M. (2020). The Network Society: Social Aspects of New Media (4ª Edición, 2020). London; New York: Sage Publications

 

Further references will be provided on the Virtual Campus.

 

 


Software

No specific software is required.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(SEM) Seminars 1 Catalan second semester afternoon
(SEM) Seminars 2 Catalan second semester afternoon
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan second semester afternoon