Social Interaction and Social Structure

"I claim that human mind or human society is not divided into watertight compartments called social, political and religious. All act and react upon one another."
- Mohandas Gandhi 

Moving on from socialization and the life course, I want to specifically discuss social interaction and social structure. While our family and peers help shape us, society as a whole plays a very significant role as well. With that being said, it is important to understand just what society is: Society is a system of social interaction that includes both social organization and culture. Within our society we have social interaction, which can be considered the foundation of society-as seen in the image above, society is the largest, outermost circle, signifying it's overall importance in influencing the individual at hand. Is it correct to assume that the specific society in which we are in influences our community/culture, which influences our families, which, in turn, influences us? 

Think about it-depending on what country we so happen to live in, we may act a certain way; I am from the U.S., and have probably been brought up differently than an individual brought up in India. Our society, and the social interactions we have within that society ultimately define who we will be-we become apart of groups, we develop different statuses, and we hold different roles, depending on the society we come from. I have included an in depth report on why humans need social interaction, a video on how internet has impacted society (because, lets be honest, the internet has had an impact on many of our lives), and finally, a couple of links with more information on social interaction and social structure. 


Video: The internet's influence on society (this is a segment done for CNN in 2010)

Links: 
This is a website put together for educational reasons. There is a lot of insightful information on both social interaction and social structure.

Need to learn key terms about social interaction and social structure? This website allows you to study terms (like "organic solidarity") and their definitions! 


Social Interaction and Social Structure


G N I T N I R P M I Y G S R Y 
E J Q R T B R N N T E I T O R 
M O U J A H I T E S S B R L Y 
E V H Y L L A I E Y Z V B E F 
I T S B N D C L L A N Z P X A 
N I S A K O L A H R I B X C Q 
S E G V S S N C S T A T U S T 
C V C R C A U N I L R G R G W 
H W I H O A J A G H T T L K X 
A B A R L U V M V R S T I Y X 
F F C U F K P H R W E T P Z J 
T A M I C R O A N A L Y S I S 
M I B G W C B I S Q O K V T D 
Q E P A U N S R B B R E I G R 
D D V U E Y X L E S U L F O L
1. A state characterized by a sense of common feeling among the members of a 
   society
2. A type of society in which increasing importance is placed on the secondary 
   relationships people have 
3. A collection of individuals who interact and communicate, share goals and norms
4. Process whereby a newly hatched member of a species attaches itself to the 
   first object "seen" by it
5. Analysis of the whole of society
6. Analysis of the smallest, most immediately visible parts of social life
7. Behaviors others expect from a person associated with a particular status
8. Conflicting expectations within the same role
9. System of social interaction that includes both culture and social organization
10.Established position in a social structure that carries with is a degree of 
   prestige 

Choices: Role strain, status, microanalysis, group, imprinting, society, role, 
gemeinschaft, macroanalysis, gesellschaft