Sociology students of Mumbai University and its affiliated colleges will soon have to study the dimensions of social networking sites and cyber crime in society. The department of sociology of Mumbai University will include two chapters on social networking and cyber crime in the syllabus from the coming academic year which begins from June. The chapters will be included in the sociology syllabus for the First Year Bachelors of Arts (FYBA). According to department authorities, the course will not only provide students an introduction to the study of social networks and cyber crime but will also teach them the political and social effects on the society and individuals. “We will focus on understanding the causes and consequences of the patterns of relationships between individuals. Everyone, be it college students, teachers, senior citizens or even school kids, knows how to use social networking sites. However, through the detailed chapters, we want to teach students the political dimensions of the two topics,” said Prahlad Jogdand, Chairman of the Board of Studies of Sociology and Dean, Faculty of Arts, MU. [related-post] “Social networking sites play a vital role in society today. It is news all the while and hence it is necessary as a student of sociology to study it in detail. PM Narendra Modi and the BJP relied a great deal on social networking sites for campaigning. The party managed to reach out to the masses on a large scale through the social network,” Jogdand added. The chapters will include topics such as increasing usage of social networking sites and trends, its effect on the society, use of social media by political parties during elections, economic dimensions of social networking sites, cyber crime, case studies under cyber crime, acts and laws of cyber crime etc. “Besides, too much use of social networking sites has increased the rate of cyber crimes across the world. Many of us do not even know that certain acts of ours on social media may land us in trouble under cyber crime rules. All these factors make these topics very relevant for sociology students,” said Jogdand. He added, “We are currently working on preparing reference materials.there are hardly any books on this topic in Marathi. Hence, we will also prepare reference material in Marathi for students whose medium of instruction is Marathi.” dipti.singh@expressindia.com
