Abstract
‘Communication has always been the force that makes a collection of people more than the sum of individuals. Now we have the tools to understand why and apply that knowledge to rethink how we live and act in society’ (p. xv). This is the main premise Sandra González-Bailón’s book Decoding the Social World: Data Science and the Unintended Consequences of Communication is built upon. González-Bailón sets out to provide an account of the progress made in that respect over the past years. She argues that her book ‘tells two stories: a story of change and a story of recurrence’ (p. xv). In her view, while new communication technologies tend to be received in a similar way – ‘like a pendulum, responses oscillate from wonder to fear, from apprehension to awe’, what has changed significantly is ‘the actual potential of emerging technologies to illuminate the hidden logic of social life – and the unintended consequences that so often result from daily routines and interactions’ (p. xv). Epistemologically, González-Bailón ‘sides with the logic of scientific discovery’, namely, she is a firm believer that data analysis, abstractions and models have the potential to ‘simplify the complexity of the world’ (p. xviii). Her book is also an attempt to demonstrate that data science does not lack theory. The book consists of six substantive chapters, an introduction and a conclusion. Chapter 2, ‘Old Puzzles, New Evidence’, sets out a theoretical framework for the study of unintended consequences, which González-Bailón sees as a fundamental part of social life. Chapter 3, ‘The Effervescence of Collective Behavior’, then analyses the dynamics of digital technologies and how ‘buzz’ or ‘collective effervescence’ is created. Chapter 4, ‘The Social Logic of Influence’, focuses on the ‘mechanisms that activate dynamics of social influence, including how communication technologies are shaping contagion effects’ (p. 19). Chapter 5, ‘Networks and Social Distance’, considers the relationship between ‘the level of individual actors (exposure, imitation) and the level of aggregated collectives (trending topics, opinion shifts’ (p. 20) by exploring the theory of networks. Chapter 6, ‘Communication in Space’, focuses on space – the role it plays in relation to communication, especially in terms of constraints and challenges. Chapter 7, ‘Designing Policy and Action’, as its title suggests, discusses the policy implications of digital communication research. The conclusion then provides an overview of ‘the questions that remain open today – and that will likely remain open for many years to come’ (p. 21). González-Bailón ends her book with a strong message for her readers. She argues that we need to realize that ‘the technological and the social are no longer separate realms’ and that the challenges posed by technological developments can only be solved by bringing together the insights of data science and the long-held wisdom of social thought, with its sobering approach to the human condition – but also its undeterred will to understand the social world in its mind-blowing complexity. (pp. 180–181)
Her book makes a welcome attempt to do precisely that, namely to bridge what are often perceived as two different fields of study.