This chapter explains how the interplay between different societal factors and new technologies fosters a new form of social organization, which is no longer based on the individual or the traditional community but revolves around the idea of a network. Therefore, it discusses the idea of the network society along with the concepts of timeless time, the space of flows, and the weightless economy as well as the leading theories on network societies. The chapter outlines the effects of the increasing fusion of national public spheres with global information flows on public communication and presents two opposing developments: the participatory character of public communication and its restriction through economic interests and algorithmic processes. Furthermore, it focuses on the concept of network sociality, which is based on the assumption that networks and not communities are the dominant organizational form in a digital society. The chapter illustrates the role of social media in building and maintaining networks and introduces the term social capital, in order to understand network motivation. It ends with a reflection on the influence of algorithms on our socialities.

Because anyone can publish their thoughts on the Internet without professional gatekeeping, readers routinely encounter misinformation. Unfortunately, people appear to forego critical thinking when reading online. On the one hand, readers appear to prioritize inaccurate information that allows them to preserve their pre-existing misconceptions. On the other hand, readers with accurate pre-existing understandings are also prone to acquiring new misinformation they encounter on the Internet. Critical thinking can help people overcome pre-existing misconceptions through a comparison process with accurate conceptions, as can critically evaluating website credibility based on available source features. Critical thinking can also help people avoid or quickly discard novel misinformation they encounter through an evaluation of the trustworthiness of the information sources. Digital technologies can play a major role in training students how to avoid, detect, and handle misinformation on the web, although they may require long periods of instruction to maximize learning.