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Book review: David Morley, Communications and mobility: The migrant, the mobile phone, and the container box

The next six chapters then focus on socialbots within specific contexts of SNS— providing more thought-provoking, in-depth, and theoretical discussions on the blurring lines between bots and humans in the evolving social media landscape. Grant Bollmer and Chris Rodley’s chapter, for example, focuses on unpacking the concept of “sociality” on SNS, arguing that the way it is imagined and performed is socially constructed and further speculating that socialbots themselves “serve as a fluid and flexible limit” in defining human sociality online (p. 161). The chapter by Maria Bakardjieva also questions the understanding of what it means to be “social” on SNS. Referencing Max Weber’s work and other philosophical critiques of formal rationality, Bakardjieva attributes the rise of socialbots to the continuing process of formal rationalization of sociality online. She cautions that this could weaken interpersonal relationships, meaningful discussions, and group solidarities if left unchecked. The book then concludes with David Gunkel’s chapter on morals and ethics, highlighting the ethical conundrums, such as rights and accountability, of such automated software agents given their future existence and usage. Overall, the book provides a broad yet comprehensive exploration of socialbots and human–socialbot relationship that extends beyond existing scholarship in the field of computer science. The collection shines in its fascinating and detailed case studies of different socialbots and their predecessors. It also excels in its engagement with a wide range of approaches, perspectives, and theories, such as theory of rationalization and actor–network theory, to explain the existence and effect of such automated software agents on social networks and their users. Although the discussions within the book are not directly related to mobile media and might be a challenging read for those without foundational and technical knowledge, it offers useful insights that highlight the emerging trends in online human sociality within social networks. These are especially useful for students of media and communication, sociology, and psychology. At times, the conceptual understanding of socialbots seemed confusing and lacked consistency across chapters and contributors. However, this lack of a single definition and shared understanding reflects how socialbots are evolving, complex, and ambiguous in nature. In sum, the book underlines the need for further investigation of this sociotechnical entity and its associated user dynamics, especially with the inevitable proliferation of socialbots in digital media.