Social Control in Network Communities Analytic study

Abstract

Background/Objectives: To define the new concept of social control in network communities and to answer the following questions: What is the new social control? What are the methods of this new social control? and how to reach a controlled use of network communities? Methods/Statistical Analysis: The study used the analytic descriptive methodology that is based on the research and study of the new concept of social control and its main patterns from different angles and qualitatively expresses them through studying the literature review of the problem and discussing it. The study categorized the methods of new social control into two major categories: First, official methods of social control, which are set by the society to enforce a kind of purposeful control of its members through guiding rules and instructions in forms of regulatory legislations to be adhered by all society institutions and individual alike; Second, non-official methods of social control, such as individuals’ following of societal criteria and values, through the process of socialization. We used 29 references of previous studies. Findings: The study defined the new concept of social control as the collective practices and behaviors of society upon its members to educate them, organize their behaviors or control them in order for their behaviors to be consistent with the prevailing criteria through a group of various methods that lead their behaviors to meet the society expectations, such as methods aim at preserving the growth and sustainability of the society and protecting its structure. To achieve the most suitable control of any given society, different societal bodies of two directions – integrated in roles and results – emerge. The first direction stems from inside, where the individual internally desires to adhere to societal criteria and values. This direction is achieved through proper introduction of individuals to the digital environment, starting from the early childhood to the teenage and continues if the individual uses network communities. The second direction is institutional that is reflected on the set laws and written regulations by official authorities such as the Electronic Transactions Law, and the Cyber Crimes Act. Improvements/Applications: The results of this study are confined to the predetermined goals that it sought to achieve and the questions that it sought to answer. Hence, conducting more studies about social control and their different social dimensions to achieve more generalized results is needed. The researcher recommends better dissemination of laws on the use of network communities as well as more attention to the digital socialization of children and adolescents, thus contributing to the development of active and disciplined members of society in the network communities. Keywords: Digital Communities, Network Society, Social Control