Six reflections on studying at the Oxford Internet Institute

I’ve spent the last two years studying part-time at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford for an MSc in the social science of the internet. It’s been an amazing and challenging experience, and there’s a lot I could say about what I’ve learnt – but in the interests of concision, here are six reflections on the whole experience…

1.??? The digital is intensely personal and physical

Studying the impact of technology through a social science lens has challenged me to think more deeply about tech’s true nature.

What we often think of as disembodied and intangible is actually a man-made set of physical objects – undersea cables, satellites, servers, modems, computers and phones. It’s built, used and staffed by fallible humans with particular perspectives and historical positionalities.

None of it is permanent. None of it is inevitable. None of it is neutral. Exploring the human, historical and infrastructural aspects of tech continues to fascinate me.

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2.??? Social science has lots to teach us in brand, comms and strategy

I quickly realised that a lot of what I do as a comms strategist is essentially social science. Qualitative interviews. Understanding culture. Theorising about what’s going on. Being “interesting”, not objectively “right”. These are all characteristics they share.

Refreshingly to me, my professors were completely confident that qual research is just as valuable as quant – and in fact is the only way to understand people’s motivations and reasoning. Quant shows you WHAT happened. Qual explains WHY. Thus it’s more useful for most of what comms and marketing folks need. Qual research FTW!

I also learnt a whole load of new concepts – the disinhibition effect, hyperpersonal relations, context collapse, domestication theory, and many more – that explain the human behaviour I see in my work with clients all the time. I need to do further posts on them all!

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3.??? Tech might affect economics more than politics

I started my master’s particularly concerned about tech regulation and the internet’s effect on misinformation and the media landscape. But by the end of it, I’ve become less worried about tech’s impact on politics and more worried about its impact on economics.

We know that one of the internet’s meta-impacts is to amplify previously marginal voices. This explains why politics and culture feels more polarised and unpredictable these days. Social movements and campaigning individuals – such as MeToo, Black Lives Matter, Greta Thunberg or MAGA Republicans – can cut through in a way they couldn’t before.

But beyond that, I think it’s fair to say that political science struggles to confidently identify many clear-cut consequences of the internet on contemporary politics. It’s very hard to disentangle the internet’s impact on how people vote from everything else going on. And the internet just doesn’t seem to be that important in affecting people’s deeply held values or kneejerk reactions (which is how most people engage with politics).

However, the internet does introduce a whole new set of ways to conduct business. It concentrates economic might, creates powerful network effects, and automates large swathes of work rapidly. This is where technology’s social consequences could be greatest and most disruptive.

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4.??? Fandoms are fascinating

One of the areas I explored during my degree was the concept of fandoms. Online fandoms (on social media, messaging apps, etc) are one of the internet’s most powerful forms of popular culture. It’s far easier than ever before for fans to find one another across the globe, and latch on to the quirkiest or most niche object of obsession.

Increasingly I see similarities between celebrity fandoms, brand fandoms and political fandoms. In other words, I’d argue that Swifties, Tesla heads and Qanon believers are all following the same dynamics of online pop culture. They form communal bonds with each other, work together to find clues and unravel mysteries, create celebratory art and content, and so on. That probably deserves a whole thesis in itself but it’s definitely an area I want to look into more!

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5.??? University has changed

When I started uni at the turn of the century (lol), I didn’t own a mobile phone. I called home once a week via a BT paycard from the phonebox in college. Now students are part of multiple WhatsApp groups, sharing messages, lecture notes and silly memes with each other at all hours. New students today get mental health and sexual consent classes, rather than sherry with the college chaplain.

Some things don’t change that much though. In 2003, I lived through the build up to Iraq and the march against the war. In 2023, the Israel-Gaza war put student focus back on the Middle East again – albeit this time, due to social media and messaging apps, it all felt much more emotionally intense.

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6.??? Britain remains a beacon of global soft power – if we can keep it

The power of the Oxford name is enormous and attracts grad students from all over the world, from Nigeria and India, to Mexico and China. (My college had 210 grads from 55 countries, representing all five continents.) The faculty staff are just as multinational. I got taught by incredible professors from Finland, Austria, Russia, and the US.

Oxford, and other top universities like it, are incredible British exports and global beacons. We must do all we can to protect and nurture them.