Reconceptualisation of Social Solidarity: Networked Segmentation as a New Digital Divide

Abstract

Many authors have recognized the unifying potential of digital technologies. McLuhan introduces the phrase "global village," while Castells writes about the emerging society as "networked." However, the experience of living in a "networked society" has questioned assumptions about the one-dimensional nature of the impact of digital technologies both on global social solidarity and solidarity at the micro level. Castells himself makes a sort of leap by considering the transformation of society from networked to segmented, heralding the end of the traditional concept of mass audience. Through mass and especially new social media, the audience as an interactive subject is open to further segmentation and differentiation. These insights indicate the necessity of reconsidering the impact of new media technologies – on the one hand, on forms of constructing social identity and social connectivity, and on the other hand, on the creation of a digital divide, supported by algorithms and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, certain categories need to be revised/redefined, primarily considering them in the context of social and political divisions that the use of social networks generates and deepens, such as the concept of the "digital divide," originally associated with the problem of unequal access to digital resources. The main aim of the paper concerns contributing to the modernization of research categories used in media and society studies, to make their theoretical and practical application more adequate and tailored to contemporary social reality. The paper will propose new formulations of key concepts, aiming to make the inherent multidimensionality of the discussed categories evident, within the context of the impact of new media and technologies. The ultimate result of the paper is contained in a sort of mapping of how the new media ecosystem supports processes of building social solidarity and creating digital alienation.