The Digital As an Object of Sociological Study and Its Social Metaphysics

In the last 10 years, digital technology has grown practically exponentially, its presence is permanent and powerful in society. The digital has become an almost absolute dimension, it is observable both in daily life as well as in the various structural areas of society such as economy and politics. This is why the digital, or digitality itself, has become an object of study in all social sciences and sociology is no exception. However, sociology has been confronted with providing an explanation for a social phenomenon whose dynamics are extremely changing. The number of studies carried out in relation to the digital sphere is overwhelming, although this does not explain what “digital” is from sociology. What is digital in society? Video games, socio-digital networks, digital banking transactions? The objective of this proposal is initially to provide a sociological understanding from the theory of practices of what is designated as “the digital”, in order to subsequently address the myths that grow around the digital as a practice. The theoretical approach includes authors such as Herbert Marcuse, Norbert Elias and Andreas Reckwitz.