The reputation society: How online opinions are reshaping the offline world

seemed to conflate the methods and models of sociological inquiry with the concrete changes underway. Both of these criticisms lend themselves well to classroom discussion, where this is used as a course text. Moreover, they represent only modest criticisms of a book that I think manages to do the impossible rather well: providing a strong foundation for thinking about networked society that is not dated 2 years after issue, and I suspect will continue to be marked as a contribution to understanding the networked society for some time to come. There are other paths to the study of this area, drawing on different methodological and epistemological traditions, but I have little doubt that those who come to this area through Rainie and Wellman’s book will be well prepared to engage the literature as a whole and will see the networked world in a different light.