The emergence of knowledge society with globalisation and ICTs as its major co-constituents has generated a new momentum in the social, economic, cultural and political lives in contemporary India. Locating itself within an emerging globally interdependent economic order and increasing ICT-driven interconnectivity the knowledge society has redefined in many ways the pre-existing ways of living by bringing in new avenues of economic and occupational mobility and ideals of existential well-being and fulfilment of life, new processes of socialisation, patterns of imparting education, processes of engagement with varieties of cultural practices, formation of social networks, developing friendship and redefining the pre-existing sense of ‘space’ and ‘pace’ in society.

New Sociocultural Milieu in the Making

ICT-Driven New Social Milieu

The knowledge society has revolutionised and intensified social interaction with increased speed and frequency through text messaging, voice mailing, commercial advertising, emailing, e-charting, Facebook posting, blogging, twitting, skyping, wave casting and host of such new media activities. These have brought into play a new milieu of organising social interaction locally, regionally, nationally and globally. The ICT-mediated interactions, which were either minimal or remained un/under preferred for economic or technical or infrastructural reasons, have now occupied the centrestage for exchange of ideas and information, for generating opinions and debates, for intensification of social issues and concerns, for seeking information on employment and education, professional enrichment and career counselling, physical therapy and medicine, art and music, travel and tourism, real estate and housing, for religion and spirituality, share market and corporate world, live-in and marriage partners, friends and companions, in fact for each and everything on Earth at a high speed as ever across the space.