The article is devoted to the basic trends of the new society formation – the knowledge society. Different attitudes are analyzed. The new economy and new society – is a fact of modern social environment, structural, and transformed from within. In the sociological world in a variety of reasons, has not developed a consensus on the name of a new stage of social development as well, along with the concept of "information society" is used quite a wide range of epithets: "sverhindustrialnaya civilization", "technotronic society". The current crisis because of the intensity found aggravation. First of all, perhaps it is a civilizational crisis heightened tensions between man and mankind. This civilizational trend, an exponential value in recent years, leads to the alienation of man including the achievements of the human mind. There are development trends and methodological basis of cognition of the new social phenomena distinguished. Moreover, author stresses the need of the conceptual theoretical survey in this area and the sociological understanding of the occurring changes.