The intellectual origins of the idea can be traced back to the work of early social theorists such as Georg Simmel who analyzed the effect of modernization and industrial capitalism on complex patterns of affiliation, organization, production and experience.
[6] In his studies, Wellman focuses on three main points of the network society: community, work and organizations.
He states that with recent technological advances an individual's community can be socially and spatially diversified.
Turoff and Hiltz were the progenitors of an early computer supported communication system, called EIES.
[8] When interviewed by Harry Kreisler from the University of California Berkeley, Castells said "...the definition, if you wish, in concrete terms of a network society is a society where the key social structures and activities are organized around electronically processed information networks.
"[9] The diffusion of a networking logic substantially modifies the operation and outcomes in processes of production, experience, power, and culture.
Van Dijk does not go that far; for him these units still are individuals, groups, organizations and communities, though they may increasingly be linked by networks.
Influences such as religion, cultural upbringing, political organizations, and social status all shape the network society.
[12] The space of flows plays a central role in Castells' vision of the network society.
This means that social and media networks are shaping the prime mode of organization and most important structures of modern society.
It asserts that paper means of communication will become out of date, with newspapers and letters becoming ancient forms for spreading information.
In eastern societies, this might still be the group (family, community, work team) linked by networks.
Daily living and working environments are getting smaller and more heterogenous, while the range of the division of labour, interpersonal communications and mass media extends.
Aided by information and communication technology, these coordinates of existence can be transcended to create virtual times and places and to simultaneously act, perceive and think in global and local terms.
[16] The concepts described by Jan van Dijk, Barry Wellman, Hiltz and Turoff, and Manuel Castells are embodied in much digital technology.
These web services allow people all over the world to communicate through digital means without face-to-face contact.
[citation needed] Network society does not have any confinements and has found its way to the global scale.
This allows for globalization to take place by having more and more people joining the online society and learning about different techniques with the world wide web.