Abstract

I propose a microsociology of IT. It is a study of how a person interacts with IT, and how such an interaction may affect and mediate the social bonds and solidarity of people. I raise several issues in developing the microsociology. I identify different modes, namely the object mode and the medium mode, in which IT comes into touch with a person’s life. I also note the absence of the emotive aspect of a person-IT interaction in developing the microsociology. I propose a model of a person-IT interaction, an attunement model, to explain a micro level interaction between a person and the technology. I also propose that the attuned interaction between a person and IT result in an extended self and that such an extended self fundamentally transform the social bonds and solidarity of the human society.

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