Social Informatics: An Emerging Issue

Social informatics (SI) refers to the study that examines social aspects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), particularly computerization and their implementation. It includes research and theorizing about the roles of ICTs in social and organizational change, the uses of ICTs in social contexts, and the ways that the design, development, implementation, and use of ICTs are influenced by social forces and social practices. Social informatics refers to a multidisciplinary research field that examines the design, uses, and implications of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in ways that account for their interactions with institutional and cultural contexts. This article attempts to lay down the social and ethical issues of social informatics. It is the main premise of the article that the ultimate intellectual problems of social informatics.