The Handbook of Internet Studies

To fully understand the impact and significance of the Internet, it is essential to consider its historical, societal, and cultural contexts. This handbook presents a wide range of original essays by established scholars in the field of Internet studies exploring the role of the internet in modern societies, and the continuing development of its academic study. Presenting a range of standpoints intended to provide both introductory and more sophisticated frameworks for understanding the many areas of Internet research, the collection explores the history of the Internet, the Internet and society (including such topics as community, networks, law, identity, and politics), and the Internet and culture (including the media connection, news, entertainment, Web 2.0 and social media). Within each section, individual chapters provide in–depth analysis of current research, debates and questions being raised in that particular sub–area. Chapters point to major findings in the area, as well as challenges and questions that the sub–area is currently grappling with. Concluding with a discussion of the future of the internet, the as yet unrealized potentials of current Internet–related technologies, and the impact of possible future technologies within both the developed and developing worlds, the Handbook of Internet Studies is thought–provoking and insightful reading for both students and researchers in the field.

Notes on Editors and Contributors vii Acknowledgments xii Introduction: What is “Internet Studies”? 1 Charles Ess and Mia Consalvo Part I Beyond the Great Divides? A Primer on Internet Histories, Methods, and Ethics 9 Introduction to Part I 11 Charles Ess 1 Studying the Internet Through the Ages 17 Barry Wellman 2 Web Archiving – Between Past, Present, and Future 24 Niels Brügger 3 New Media, Old Methods – Internet Methodologies and the Online/Offline Divide 43 Klaus Bruhn Jensen 4 The Internet in Everyday Life: Exploring the Tenets and Contributions of Diverse Approaches 59 Maria Bakardjieva 5 Internet Research Ethics: Past, Present, and Future 83 Elizabeth A. Buchanan Part II Shaping Daily Life: The Internet and Society 109 Introduction to Part II 111 Mia Consalvo 6 Assessing the Internet’s Impact on Language 117 Naomi S. Baron 7 Internet Policy 137 Sandra Braman 8 Political Discussion Online 168 Jennifer Stromer–Galley and Alexis Wichowski 9 Does the Internet Empower? A Look at the Internet and International Development 188 Deborah L. Wheeler 10 Internet and Health Communication 212 Lorna Heaton 11 Internet and Religion 232 Heidi Campbell 12 Indigenous Peoples on the Internet 251 Laurel Dyson 13 Queering Internet Studies: Intersections of Gender and Sexuality 270 Janne Bromseth and Jenny Sundén Part III Internet and Culture 301 Introduction to Part III 303 Mia Consalvo 14 Community and the Internet 309 Lori Kendall 15 MOOs to MMOs: The Internet and Virtual Worlds 326 Mia Consalvo 16 Internet, Children, and Youth 348 Sonia Livingstone 17 Internet and Games 369 T. L. Taylor 18 Social Networks 2.0 384 Nancy K. Baym 19 Newly Mediated Media: Understanding the Changing Internet Landscape of the Media Industries 406 P. David Marshall 20 Online Pornography: Ubiquitous and Effaced 424 Susanna Paasonen 21 Music and the Internet 440 Steve Jones 22 Why and How Online Sociability Became Part and Parcel of Teenage Life 452 Marika Lüders Index 470

Mia Consalvo is Canada Research Chair in Game Studies & Design at Concordia University, Canada. Charles Ess is Associate Professor in Media Studies in the Department of Media and Communication at University of Oslo, Norway.

“Summing Up: Highly recommended.  Upper–division undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty.”  ( Choice , 1 April 2012) “Together, the comprehensive and quite thought–provoking individual essays provide richly insightful perspectives into the extent to which the internet is shaping and being shaped by human cultures and societies, and the various ways in which scholars might consider and approach such processes.”  ( Digital Journalism , 19 August 2014)