UGC NET Sociology Science, Technology and Society Syllabus

What is Laura Mulvey's concept of the 'male gaze'?

In cinema, the camera and narrative are structured from a heterosexual male viewpoint that positions women as passive objects of visual pleasure.

What is Jean Baudrillard's concept of the 'simulacrum' and 'hyperreality'?

In media-saturated society, signs and images cease to refer to reality and become copies without originals (simulacra), producing 'hyperreality' where the simulation is more real than reality itself.

What is Guy Debord's 'society of the spectacle'?

The argument that in advanced capitalism authentic social life is replaced by representations and images; social relations among people are mediated by images (the spectacle).

What is Roland Barthes' contribution to the analysis of visual images?

Through semiotics he distinguished denotation (literal meaning) from connotation (cultural/ideological meaning) and showed how images function as 'myth' that naturalizes ideology.

What is 'social media'?

Interactive internet-based platforms that allow users to create, share and exchange user-generated content and to form networks, e.g., Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp.

How does social media differ structurally from traditional mass media?

Traditional media are one-to-many and broadcast by gatekeeping institutions; social media are many-to-many, interactive, decentralized and driven by user-generated content (prosumers).

What is the term for users who both produce and consume media content on social platforms?

'Prosumers' (producer + consumer), a term popularized by Alvin Toffler and applied to Web 2.0 participatory culture.

What is 'Web 2.0'?

The second generation of the internet characterized by user-generated content, interactivity, participation and social networking, in contrast to the static, read-only Web 1.0.

What is Manuel Castells' concept of the 'network society'?

A social structure organized around digital information networks, where power and production operate through flows of information; he also coined 'mass self-communication' for social media.

What does Castells mean by 'mass self-communication'?

Communication that reaches a mass audience but is self-generated, self-directed and self-selected by individuals through internet and social media platforms.

What is the 'digital divide'?

The gap between those who have access to information and communication technologies (and the skills to use them) and those who do not, reflecting and reinforcing social inequality.

What are the commonly cited levels of the digital divide?

First level: physical access to devices/internet; second level: differences in digital skills and usage; third level: differences in the benefits/outcomes derived from use.

What is an 'echo chamber' in social media?

An environment where users are exposed mainly to information and opinions that reinforce their existing views, due to selective exposure and network homophily.

What is a 'filter bubble'?

Eli Pariser's term for the personalized information universe created by algorithms that selectively present content based on user data, isolating users from differing viewpoints.

What is 'surveillance capitalism' (Shoshana Zuboff)?

An economic logic in which companies extract and commodify users' personal data and behavioural surplus to predict and influence behaviour for profit.

What is 'slacktivism'?

Low-cost, low-effort online support for a cause (e.g., liking, sharing, hashtag campaigns) that gives a feeling of participation but may have limited real-world impact.

How have social media affected social movements? Give an example.

They enable rapid, leaderless mobilization and information sharing across networks; examples include the Arab Spring (2011), Occupy movement and #MeToo campaign.

What is 'convergence' in media studies?

Henry Jenkins' concept describing the flow of content across multiple media platforms and the merging of previously distinct media (print, audio, video) into integrated digital forms.

What is 'participatory culture' (Henry Jenkins)?

A culture with low barriers to creative expression and civic engagement in which consumers actively produce, remix and circulate media content rather than passively consume it.

What is 'fake news' and 'misinformation'?

Fake news is fabricated information presented as legitimate journalism; misinformation is false information spread regardless of intent, while disinformation is false information spread deliberately to deceive.

What is the concept of 'gatekeeping' in media?

Kurt Lewin's idea that editors, producers and now algorithms control which information passes through 'gates' to reach the audience, shaping the news agenda.

What is 'media imperialism' / cultural imperialism?

The thesis that powerful nations (especially the US) dominate global media flows, spreading their cultural values and eroding local cultures (associated with Herbert Schiller).

What is the 'propaganda model' of Herman and Chomsky?

A framework arguing that mass media content is shaped by five filters—ownership, advertising, sourcing, flak, and ideology—that systematically serve elite interests.

What is the difference between 'denotation' and 'connotation' in reading media images?

Denotation is the literal, descriptive meaning of an image; connotation is the associated cultural, emotional and ideological meaning it carries.

What is 'astroturfing' on social media?

The practice of masking sponsored or coordinated campaigns to make them appear as spontaneous, grassroots public opinion.

What is the 'spiral of silence' theory (Noelle-Neumann)?

The tendency of individuals to stay silent when they perceive their views to be in the minority, fearing isolation, which amplifies dominant opinions in the media climate.

What is 'media convergence' distinguished from 'media divergence'?

Convergence is the integration of multiple media functions into single platforms/devices; divergence is the proliferation and specialization of media into many niche channels and formats.

How does electronic media's temporality differ from print media's?

Print media are fixed, durable and consumed at the reader's own pace (asynchronous); broadcast electronic media are time-bound and often consumed simultaneously and ephemerally (synchronous, real-time).

What is 'datafication'?

The transformation of social action, behaviour and relationships into quantified digital data that can be tracked, analysed and monetized, central to social media economies.

What is the concept of the 'attention economy' in social media?

An economic model in which human attention is treated as a scarce commodity; platforms compete to capture and hold user attention, which is then sold to advertisers.