Mary Chayko is an American sociologist and professor of communication and information at Rutgers University. She is the director of Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Studies at Rutgers University's School of Communication and Information and she is also a Faculty Fellow in Residence at the Rutgers-New Brunswick Honors College. She received an Ed.M. in Counseling Psychology from Rutgers University's Graduate School of Education and a Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Rutgers University. Mary Chayko was one of the first social scientists to study the social implications of the internet. Her research focuses on the impact of the internet, digital technology, and social media on community, society, and the self. She is a speaker and an author of multiple books and many articles on communication and sociology. She was honored with the Rutgers University Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching and as a Rutgers Faculty of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Contributor to Undergraduate Education.
Selected publications
Superconnected: The Internet, Digital Media and Techno-Social Life. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
Pioneers of Public Sociology: Thirty Years of Humanity and Society.. 2010. Cambridge, MA: Sloan Publishing
Connecting: How We Form Social Bonds and Communities in the Internet Age. 2002. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press
Scholarly articles, reviews, and book chapters
"Digital Technology, Social Media, and Techno-Social Life." Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Sociology. Wiley-Blackwell.
"The Practice of Identity: Development, Expression, Performance, Form." Routledge Handbook of Digital Media. Routledge.
"In Sync, But Apart": Temporal Symmetry and Digital Connectedness." 2018. Networks, Hacking, and Media: Emerald Studies in Media and Communication. 17:63-72.
"The First Web Theorist? Georg Simmel and the Legacy of 'The Web of Group-Affiliations'" 2015. Information, Communication and Society
"Techno-Social Life: The Internet, Digital Technology, and Social Connectedness." 2014. Sociology Compass. 8:7:976-991
"Book Review: Networked: The New Operating System by Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman." 2014. Sociological Forum. 29:2:517-521.
"Book Review: The Engaged Sociologist by Kathleen Korgen and Jonathan White." 2012. Humanity and Society. 36:1.85-86.
"Live Tweeting in the Classroom With a Guest Speaker-Tweeter." 2012. Cyborgology. Nov.
"I'll Take My Community To Go." 2009. Vodafone Receiver. May, lead article.
"The Portable Community: Envisioning and Examining Mobile Social Connectedness." 2007. International Journal of Web-based Communities. 3:4:373-385.
"Author's Response to Review of 'Connecting: How We Form Social Bonds and Communities in the Internet Age.'" 2007. Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies. March.
"Book Review: Love Online: Emotions on the Internet by Aaron Ben-Ze'ev." 2006. Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies. April.
"When Culture Met Science: Revisiting a Humanistic Perspective of Science and Society." 2004. Humanity and Society. 27:3:265-268.
"Book Review: The Internet in Everyday Life, by Barry Wellman and Caroline Haythornthwaite." 2003. Contemporary Sociology. 32:6:728-730.
"Social Stratification." 2003. In Race, Gender and Class in Sociology: Toward an Inclusive Curriculum, Fifth Edition. Edited by B. Scott, J. Misra, and M. Segal, 5th Edition. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
"The Internet and American Life." 2000. National survey for Princeton Survey Research Consultants.
"How You Act Your Age When You Watch TV." 1993. Sociological Forum. 8:4:573-593.
"What is Real in the Age of Virtual Reality? 'Reframing' Frame Analysis for a Technological World." 1993. Symbolic Interaction. 16:2:171-181
"Technological Ties That Bind: Media-Generated Primary Groups." 1992. Communication Research. 19:1:109-129..
Media contributions
Women's Health Magazine. Yes, The Internet Can Improve Your Mental Health—As Long As You're Smart About It. April 26, 2019
NJ.com. So you want to run a Facebook group in NJ? July 29, 2018
RU-TV Guest on morning program discussing programs and offerings at the School of Communication and Information. April 12, 2018