If you want to sharpen your sociological perspective or keep up on the latest sociology news, then we have good news for you: there are many blogs focused on bringing you the kind of news and information you seek.

"There are a variety of websites dedicated to helping us sharpen our sociological perspective," says Dr. Janis Prince, assistant professor of sociology at Saint Leo. "Many of them are written in a very accessible style by sociologists and touch upon pop culture and everyday 'happenings'. Often, you'll find they do a good job of explaining complex ideas."

Dr. Prince recommends bookmarking a few blogs to read regularly. "It's likely that you will find them insightful and a good resource for helping you to think like a sociologist."

Here are 14 blogs that students in an online sociology degree program may want to check out.

Pop Culture and Media

1. Everyday Sociology Blog

Sociologists from around the United States contribute to this blog (including Dr. Prince, who formerly wrote for this blog). It includes commentary on topics such as politics, religion, race, inequality and pop culture. The blog authors invite you to, "come to this site regularly to get a sociological take on what is happening in the news (and on what should be in the news)."

2. Sociology in Focus

A recent post, "What Am I Supposed To Do About Social Problems?" focuses on how students can create social change through community-based social-marketing. Other posts cover topics such as inequality, culture, education, deviance/crime, media/pop culture, theory and more.

3. Sociological Images

According to the blog creator, "Sociological Images encourages people to exercise and develop their sociological imaginations with discussions of compelling visuals that span the breadth of sociological inquiry." You can search for posts of interest by the tagged topic (there are dozens of topics covered), as well as subscribe to an email from the blog.

4. The Sociological Cinema

The three professors who manage this blog started it with a desire to help other faculty easily find video clips that demonstrate various sociological themes to use during class lectures. The video clip categories range from art/music and children/youth to inequality, globalization and food/agriculture.

5.This Sociological Life

Australian sociology professor Deborah Lupton and author of the book "The Quantified Self: A Sociology of Self-Trackin" writes this blog, which covers topics such as digital health and culture, social media and more.

6. The Society Pages: Clippings

This blog scans and tracks scholarly journals and media for "cutting edge social science, served up in a concise, snappy style."

7. Creative Sociology

The author of "Sociology in Stories," Todd Schoepflin, writes this blog, which covers sociology, pedagogy, pop culture, and the author's musings.

Social Justice Issues

8. Social Watch

This blog covers issues pertaining to poverty eradication and gender justice. Posts cover topics such as trade unions, poverty, sustainable development, and human rights with a worldwide view.

9. Uncommon Thought Journal

Sociologist Rowan Wolf writes an "analysis of critical issues of our time" here. Her areas of interest include social justice, environment, and globalization/corporatization.

Academia Views and Intellectual Curiosity

10. Independent Sociological Commentary

Although this blog hasn't been updated in a while, students may find this Polish sociologist's posts on "bio-historical critical sociology" interesting.

11. OrgTheory

A group of sociology professors blog here on a smorgasbord of sociology topics, mostly relating to organizational sociology.

12. The SocJournal

An alternative to a traditional scholarly journal, this website and blog is "a new media journal intended to offer sociologists, students, and the general public a window into the world of sociology."

13. Sociology and Complexity Blog

An associate professor at Kent State University writes this blog, which covers exactly what its title implies: sociology and complexity. Recent blog post topics include "The Limits of Social Engineering: A Complexity Science Critique" and "Big Data, Big Data, and More Big Data."

14. Understanding Society

According to the blog author, this blog "addresses a series of topics in the philosophy of social science." It focuses on a variety of international topics.

Are there any other sociology blogs you would recommend?

Other posts you may be interested in reading:

Psychology Vs. Sociology: What's The Difference? [Infographic]

Sociology Careers You Might Not Have Thought Of

What Can You Do With An Online Sociology Degree

Why You Might Love Sociology

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