Digital Society Research Group

Digital Society is an interdisciplinary and multi-methodological research group focused on the digital transformation and its social and political implications.

Published Updated on

Illustrasjon på digitalt samfunn

The research group sits at the intersection of media studies and journalism, political science, sociology, and change management, energy and environmental studies. This is a strategic nexus point for the Department of Media and Social Sciences (IMS). The group has been active since 2018.

With members from political science, sociology and media studies, our research activities reflect current challenges that transformations in policy and administration, identity and learning, political and social processes, business models and social media hold for society.

The goal of the group is to provide a formal structure that a) brings people together for concrete writing projects, b) plans research applications for external funding, and c) develops long-term research strategies within IMS, across all levels of research-oriented staff.

Seminar programme

Digital Society hosts a series of seminars each semester, as well as an annual symposium. The first symposium (2019) concerned theories and methods in computational social science research. The second symposium (delayed due to COVID-19) will address challenges and opportunities of the digital society. Due to the size of the Research Group, the fall 2020 seminar programme will be limited.

Affiliated projects

Associated education program

PhD students’ research projects

  • Erik De Vries: The EU: A supranational institution with national consequences. Evaluating the influence of EU-related media coverage on national party politics
  • Thomas Owren: Financing Sustainable Scandinavian journalism in the digital era: What is worth paying for in a culture for free?
  • Hans Erik Haugvaldstad: Municipal organisations – the digital transformation gameplan
  • Luise Salte: Mobile Influencers: An analysis of participation in mobile media in a Democratic Public Sphere Perspective
  • Jean Roisse Rodrigues Ferreira: Innovation and digitalisation in the public sector
  • Helga Hiim Stålhane: Digital transformations and driving for mobility: A comparative study of taxi drivers in Norway and the US.
  • Veronika Budovska: Domestication of smart home technology: Dimensions, constraints, dynamics and outcomes.

Members of the research group

Associate Professor
51831628
EOJ-346
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Assistant Professor
51831688
EAL 150
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Head of Department
51831508
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Professor
51832739
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Professor
51832186
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Professor
51832892
Elise Ottesen-Jensen 319
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Professor
51832529
EOJ 315
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Associate Professor
51832797
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Associate Professor
51832927
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Associate Professor
51831634
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Associate Professor
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Associate Professor
51831048
Faculty of Science and Technology
Department of Safety, Economics and Planning
Professor
51832233
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Associate Professor
51831647
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Postdoctoral Fellow
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
PhD Candidate
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
PhD Candidate
51831968
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
PhD Candidate
51832228
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences
Researcher
51831627
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Media and Social Sciences

Technological change, from the steam engine over industrial robots to generative “Artificial Intelligence" has always had profound impacts on media, society, and politics. For media and social scientists, it is critical to understand the impacts technology is having — but also to understand how to best leverage new technologies like machine learning as tools for research and teaching.

Carlo Michael Knotz , Research Group Leader.