Nicola Giusto, Ma in Digital Communication and Cultures The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia Ontological and political implications of Network Theory It is self-evident how information and communications technologies play a central role in social and cultural transformations in many universes: media, language, social actors, politics and public administration, thought and space. This paper attempts to clarify the present time, analyzing social network paradigm and its relation with the so called digital culture from a critical prospective. In particular, it preliminary stresses the relationship between any kind of network, power, knowledge and technology (Heidegger, Foucault), then it presents a critical analysis of the most recent studies and ideas (SNT, SNA, the Small world theory, the Network effect, Innovation, Information cascade and logic of diffusion). In part III, two different kinds of realist social ontology are presented and evaluated (Latour’s work and DeLanda’s Assemblage theory) in the attempt to move towards a new philosophy of relation. The last part explores social and political implications of living embodied in a complex global social network where governance is everyday more managed by technical protocols, apparatus and machines (Deleuze, Castells, Agamben, Galloway). More information on: http://www.culturedigitali.org http://www.lefthandedstudio.com

1. The real nature of online
communication:
social networks, blogs and emails
Arts7000 Academic communication for Postgraduates
The University of Sydney
Nicola Giusto
Monday, 4 October 2010

2. Generally speaking
email, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Msn, Icq
are:
• virtual
• immaterial
• invisible
• placed in the online space
• CLOUDS
Monday, 4 October 2010

3. Monday, 4 October 2010

4. This idea seems to entail that:
• online vs offline
• they are ontologically different (they do not
share properties)
• online world does not affect the real world
• human beings cannot look to the online social
space in the same way they normally do with
real stuffs e.g. apple, pen, people
Monday, 4 October 2010

5. Is it true?
Monday, 4 October 2010

6. NO, because:
buying online affects your wallet
split up with your partner by email changes
your life
Monday, 4 October 2010

7. How to re-think online social space?
Mapping it!!
• nodes - tie - flow (interaction)
• town, village, city, transport infrastructures (Castells,
2004)
• multilevel theory (Djik, 2006)
• client - root data server (Moglen, 2010)
Monday, 4 October 2010

8. Online Social Networks are
not different from:
- physical (ecosystem)
- organic (nervous system,
blood circulation, strings of
DNA)
- neuronal networks
- social networks
- technical (roads, mobiles,
mails and computers)
- media networks
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9. Monday, 4 October 2010

10. Thank you
Monday, 4 October 2010