ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book summarises many of the methods that are currently employed by digital social researchers, providing numerous examples of innovative and creative projects that have contributed to innovative ways of rethinking sociology. It also raises the issue of theorising methods, drawing on a body of literature that has developed on positioning the methodological device as itself a sociocultural artefact and agent in the conduct of research. The book develops a critical sociology of big data. After reviewing the emergence of the big data and its rapid diffusion into commercial, government and personal enterprises. The book addresses the topic of the digitised academic by outlining the ways in which sociologists and other academics use digital technologies as part of their professional practice.
