The rapid introduction and widespread diffusion of information technology (IT) within the advanced societies raises numerous questions of great interest for sociology. Among them is the broad question of whether we are at the threshold of a new kind of society. Naturally enough, this issue features prominently in futurist television shows, popular paperbacks, and the press. But the kinds of claims made–such as that we are constructing a “wired society”(Martin 1978) or experiencing a “third wave”(Toffler 1980), dependent on the “wealth of information”(Stonier 1983)–warrant more systematic social analysis.

Among the concepts put forward to encapsulate what is going on, the “information society” is clearly a leading candidate. Given the newness of the technologies, and the relatively recent realization of their potential to affect all areas of life, it would be surprising if sociological debate were already crystallizing around a single concept. But the growing number of references to the “information society”(or to related categories, such as “information workers') makes it a suitable focus for discussion of research on the social dimensions of the new technology, and the specific question of whether we should revise one of our basic means of characterising “society” today.