Fizz in the Field: Toward a Basis for an Emergent Internet Studies

This article examines the history and future prospects of the formation of Internet studies. It is argued that although a traditional field or disciplinary structure is not yet in place, the current interdisciplinary aggregations may have the makings of institutionalized academic units. Through comparison with the institutionalization of other interdisiciplinary areas of study (primarily that of communication and cultural studies), an argument is made for the need to create a firm intellectual foundation on which an Internet/studies can be built. Such a foundation should not only include sufficient and clear understanding of cognate fields but also include a foregrounding of power (as theoretical construct and practice) as a means of engaging the field in the world.     

Making Space for Religion in Internet Studies

This article seeks to address how religion fits into the larger domain of Internet studies and why studies of religion within computer-mediated communication (CMC) need to be given more attention. An argument is made for the need to take religion online more seriously, not just because it is an interesting phenomenon or a popular use of the Internet, but also because religion continues to be an important part of contemporary life for many people. A summary of the growth and development of religion online is presented along with an overview of how religion has been approached and studied on the Internet. This review shows what CMC studies of religion might offer in approaching research questions related to authority, identity construction, and community online. It calls for recognition of the contribution, and possibilities that underrepresented areas within interdisciplinary research, like religion, might offer Internet studies as a whole.     

Through the Looking Glass: Twenty Years of Chinese Internet Research

This article is a report on a research project that collected detailed information on articles, book chapters, books, and so on, published by academics on the Chinese Internet between 1990 and early 2013. The findings of the meta-review of 20 years of Chinese Internet research, as gleaned from quantitative and qualitative analysis of the collected body of publications, are presented and discussed in this report. It engages with the conclusions drawn by previous meta-studies, and seeks to shed a critical, self-reflexive light onto the main discursive formations of their research field. The article concludes that there is still a lot of scope for growth in studies of the Internet in China and lists several of the identified research gaps.     

Gender Scripts and the Internet: The Design and Use of Amsterdam's Digital City,by Els Rommes. Enschede,The Netherlands: Twente University Press, 2002. 304 pp. 24.00. ISBN 9-0365-1774-5

This article seeks to address how religion fits into the larger domain of Internet studies and why studies of religion within computer-mediated communication (CMC) need to be given more attention. An argument is made for the need to take religion online more seriously, not just because it is an interesting phenomenon or a popular use of the Internet, but also because religion continues to be an important part of contemporary life for many people. A summary of the growth and development of religion online is presented along with an overview of how religion has been approached and studied on the Internet. This review shows what CMC studies of religion might offer in approaching research questions related to authority, identity construction, and community online. It calls for recognition of the contribution, and possibilities that underrepresented areas within interdisciplinary research, like religion, might offer Internet studies as a whole.     

The Internet in China: A Meta-Review of Research

To understand the ultimate status of Internet studies, it is necessary to observe from both a holistic and a particularistic perspective. This article examines one small area of research, the Internet in China, to use that case study as a lens with which to discern the development of Internet studies. By comparing this micro view of the parameters, agendas, and research foci of Chinese Internet research to the larger body of Internet research, it draws insights into the present and future of Internet studies more generally.     

The Internet in Everyday Life,edited by Barry Wellman and Caroline Haythornthwaite,with foreword by Howard Rheingold and preface by Manuel Castells. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2002. xxxviii + 586 pp. $29.95 paper. ISBN 0-631-23508-6

To understand the ultimate status of Internet studies, it is necessary to observe from both a holistic and a particularistic perspective. This article examines one small area of research, the Internet in China, to use that case study as a lens with which to discern the development of Internet studies. By comparing this micro view of the parameters, agendas, and research foci of Chinese Internet research to the larger body of Internet research, it draws insights into the present and future of Internet studies more generally.     

Disciplining the Future: A Critical Organizational Analysis of Internet Studies

This article provides a critical, cautionary stance toward the future structure of “Internet studies” as a field. A social constructionist reading of the process of organizing reveals the ways in which apparently obdurate structures are constructed and negotiated through everyday discursive practices. Subsequent structures and practices function ideologically to control organizational members in a concertive fashion by shaping and directing the conceptual frameworks for inquiry and action in a seemingly natural way. Definitions and metaphors construct conceptual boundaries of meaning for the field of inquiry, delimiting and protecting over time what counts as Internet and Internet studies. Over time, origins of knowledge are hidden within the structure of the organizations and a culture of unobtrusive control emerges. Unless radical measures are taken to reflexively interrogate everyday routines and habitual ways of talking in academic environments, the future field of Internet studies will not transcend the traditions of the academy but will be entrenched in and reproduce traditional structures and a traditional scholarly enterprise.     

Science and Technology Studies Approaches to Internet Research

The field of science and technology studies provides three landmarks useful for orienting the loose constellation of intellectual projects pursued under the rubric of Internet research. Interdisciplinarity, networks, and politics offer a foundation from which social change and progress can be assessed. These landmarks can help to examine the rapid change, the micro and macro connections, the constraints and possibilities for self-organization that stand to reconfigure the substance of power, class, and culture associated with the adoption of new communication technologies.     

Disciplining the Future: A Critical Organizational Analysis of Internet Studies

This article provides a critical, cautionary stance toward the future structure of “Internet studies” as a field. A social constructionist reading of the process of organizing reveals the ways in which apparently obdurate structures are constructed and negotiated through everyday discursive practices. Subsequent structures and practices function ideologically to control organizational members in a concertive fashion by shaping and directing the conceptual frameworks for inquiry and action in a seemingly natural way. Definitions and metaphors construct conceptual boundaries of meaning for the field of inquiry, delimiting and protecting over time what counts as Internet and Internet studies. Over time, origins of knowledge are hidden within the structure of the organizations and a culture of unobtrusive control emerges. Unless radical measures are taken to reflexively interrogate everyday routines and habitual ways of talking in academic environments, the future field of Internet studies will not transcend the traditions of the academy but will be entrenched in and reproduce traditional structures and a traditional scholarly enterprise.     

Science and Technology Studies Approaches to Internet Research

The field of science and technology studies provides three landmarks useful for orienting the loose constellation of intellectual projects pursued under the rubric of Internet research. Interdisciplinarity, networks, and politics offer a foundation from which social change and progress can be assessed. These landmarks can help to examine the rapid change, the micro and macro connections, the constraints and possibilities for self-organization that stand to reconfigure the substance of power, class, and culture associated with the adoption of new communication technologies.     

The Reality beyond the Hype: Mobile Internet is Primarily an Extension of PC-Based Internet

The mobile Internet (MI) has been hyped as the next big thing by telecom operators, handset manufacturers, and content providers. However, recent studies indicate that the usage of Internet via mobile phones has remained quite flat. The authors inquire into this discrepancy by focusing on actual usage of the MI and the motivating factors behind its use. Based on focus-group interviews in Norway and Hungary, they argue that MI usage is interrelated with and is an extension of the personal computer (PC)–based Internet. The key motivation behind MI use is to attain information in situations in which the PC is out of reach. In effect, MI has not led to the development of new usages. The expectation that the development of new killer applications will lead to an explosion of new usage is therefore misguided. MI usage is and will perhaps continue to be a mere extension of PC-based Internet usage—and such use activities are the very nature of MI.     

“互联网+”驱动产业创新机制及商业模式研究

在"互联网+"驱动下,产业将以智能技术系统、物联网及服务为基础形成产业互联网。首先研究"互联网+"促进传统产业创新机制,包括"互联网+"驱动的智能产业元创新机制和产业技术创新机制;此后,讨论"互联网+"促进商业模式变革机理,包括"互联网+"驱动的产业互联网商业模式及其价值创造机制。研究认为产业互联网新型商业模式并不稳定,需要平台规制体系对其进行内部制度建设管理和外部市场监督管理;最后,分别对产业互联网发展初期、成长期、成熟期、革新期提出相应的发展政策建议。     

New Media/Internet Research Topics of the Association of Internet Researchers

This study summarizes prior reviews of new media and Internet research, and the growth of the term Internet in academic publications and online newsgroups. It then uses semantic network analysis to summarize the interests and concepts of an interdisciplinary group of Internet researchers, as represented by session titles and paper titles and abstracts from the 2003 and 2004 Association of Internet Researchers conferences. In both years, the most frequent words appearing in the paper abstracts included Internet, online, community, social, technology, and research. The 2003 papers emphasized topics such as the social analysis/research of online/Internet communication, community, and information, with particular coverage of access, individuals, groups, digital media, culture; role and process in e-organizations; and world development. The 2004 papers emphasized topics such as access; news and social issues; the role of individuals in communities; user-based studies; usage data; and blogs, women, and search policy, among others.     

网络银行与银行创新简介

随着信息和通讯的迅速发展，尤其是网络技术，正在改变着银行业。银行业中出现的新的商业模式正取代旧式的模式，以先进的IT技术引导整个银行业务流程、经营管理模式和功能的再造。传统银行发展网络银行作为新的分销渠道，带来了银行的业务及经营管理方面的创新。同时，网络带来了新的商业模式，这些模式颠覆了传统银行业的一体化经营模式，带来了银行业及金融业的创新。本文从网络银行的发展实际情况着手，分析了网络银行给传统银行带来的创新，并着重探讨了网络银行带来的银行模式的创新。     

物联网应用的问颗分析及引入原则

本文通过介绍物联网的发展现状和前景,深入探讨相关技术领域,为我们展示了物联网智能社会全景图,包括智能家庭、智能医疗、智能物流、智能电网等,并模拟再现物联网时代普通人的美好一天,给读者以直接的感性认识。本文针对物联网的技术和业务特点提出其引入策略。     

网络谣言与现实社会相互作用研究

从相互作用的主体、动力、机制、演进过程四个层面,研究了网络谣言与现实社会的相互作用。认为网络谣言与现实社会相互作用的过程,是在参与主体＂协同＂动力的推动下形成的,遵循＂聚集＂＂非线性＂＂涌现＂机制,在网络谣言传播的不同阶段表现出不同的特点。     

Machines That Become Us: The Social Context of Personal Communication Technology,edited by James E. Katz. New Brunswick,NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2003. 331 pp. $49.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-7658-0158-2

We employ Lessig's framework of regulation to conceptualize the relationship between the Internet and democracy. Lessig defines four classes of regulators, forces that control and define systems such as the Internet. They are markets, architectures, norms, and laws. We propose that a “democratic regulator” is a force that serves to enhance civil or political liberties. And we argue by example that there are democratic (and, indeed, anti-democratic) regulators that control aspects of cyberspace. Expressing the democratic effects of the Internet in this manner may prove useful for future comparisons across existing Internet and democracy theories, especially in the realm of quantitative analyses.     

Democratic and Anti-Democratic Regulators of the Internet: A Framework

We employ Lessig's framework of regulation to conceptualize the relationship between the Internet and democracy. Lessig defines four classes of regulators, forces that control and define systems such as the Internet. They are markets, architectures, norms, and laws. We propose that a “democratic regulator” is a force that serves to enhance civil or political liberties. And we argue by example that there are democratic (and, indeed, anti-democratic) regulators that control aspects of cyberspace. Expressing the democratic effects of the Internet in this manner may prove useful for future comparisons across existing Internet and democracy theories, especially in the realm of quantitative analyses.     

Three myths of internet governance considered in the context of the UK1

Discussion of Internet governance has been shaped by three myths; that the market can decide, that the Internet is different to ‘legacy’ media, and that national governance is unimportant. This paper challenges these three myths through an examination of Internet governance in the UK in 2003/4 and argues that the Internet is a layered, not vertically integrated, medium of communication, that three modes of governance prevail—hierarchy, markets and networks (self‐regulatory). The layers of the UK Internet are examined, their governance identified and evaluated and the conclusion drawn that network governance is a distinctive, but not universally present, characteristic of UK Internet governance and that contemporary, well functioning, arrangements may be unstable requiring stronger hierarchical governance in the future.     

Internet Research and the Sociology of Cyber-Social-Scientific Knowledge

Perspectives from the sociology of scientific knowledge are deployed to explore the birth of Internet research, focusing in particular on the development of methodological approaches. For a researcher based in the sociology of scientific knowledge, being an Internet researcher has been a vivid opportunity to experience at firsthand a phenomenon usually studied from the outside. The article begins by assessing some models of the process of scientific change. Characterizing Internet research as new has been a potent resource for enrolling researchers into the field and positioning research responses. The development of virtual methods for doing social research illustrates the process of methodological innovation in social science and the negotiation of methodological adequacy. Methodological discussions have been enlivened by the advent of the Internet as an object of study. Internet research has arguably been a valuable reflexive opportunity for the traditional disciplines that have fed its development.