Digital Sociology: Emergent Technologies in the Field and the Classroom Jonathan R. Wynn 1 In this essay, I use my own research experiences to address a critical intersection between technology and sociology. I suggest that thinking reflexively about technology might enhance both how sociologists do research and how they teach about it. KEY WORDS: media; pedagogy; research methods; technology; visual sociology. INTRODUCTION Technology has altered the everyday lives and experiences of students and faculty, both in and out of the classroom. My own academic journey into using emergent technologies began at two different points, culminat- ing in a new focus on the relationship between media and technology and our discipline. I would like to share those two moments as entry into this short essay. I first began thinking about media and technology (M&T) while con- ducting research on urban walking tour guides. I used a digital recording device for interviews (lamentably and predictably, a near-obsolete Sony Mini-Disk Recorder), and as I dutifully transcribed each story, I began to wonder why I was re-presenting stories that were told pretty well in the first place and why I was sapping the color from the context, as I trans- ferred it to 12-point black font. Anyone who has done transcription work knows that it makes one meditate on his or her research, and as I focused on the traffic in the background while I asked questions about public his- tory, or the cafe´ din as a guide told me a story about how poorly she responded to an older man challenging her authority on a tour, I felt the 1 205 Pierce Hall, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts 01060; e-mail: jwynn@ email.smith.edu. Sociological Forum, Vol. 24, No. 2, June 2009 (Ó 2009) DOI: 10.1111/j.1573-7861.2009.01109.x 448 0884-8971/09/0300-0031/0 Ó 2009 Eastern Sociological Society