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{{distinguish|Internet research}}
{{Refimprove|date = December 2015}}
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'''Internet studies''' is an interdisciplinary field studying the social, psychological, political, technical, cultural and other dimensions of [[the Internet]] and associated information and communication technologies.{{sfn|Dutton ''et al.''|2013|p=1}}{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=1–2, 12}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Brügger |first=Niels |date=2012 |title=When the Present Web is Later the Past: Web Historiography, Digital History, and Internet Studies |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41756477 |journal=Historical Social Research |volume=37 |issue=4 (142) |pages=102–117 |jstor=41756477 |issn=0172-6404 |access-date=2022-09-11 |archive-date=2022-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911054914/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41756477 |url-status=live }}</ref> The human aspects of the Internet are a subject of focus in this field. While that may be facilitated by the underlying technology of the Internet, the focus of study is often less on the technology itself than on the social circumstances that technology creates or influences.{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=1–2, 12}}

While studies of the Internet are now widespread across academic disciplines, there is a growing collaboration among these investigations. In recent years, Internet studies have become institutionalized as courses of study at several institutions of [[higher education|higher learning]]. Cognates are found in departments of a number of other names, including departments of "[[Internet and Society]]", "virtual society", "[[digital culture]]", "[[new media]]" or "convergent media", various "[[Ischool|iSchools]]", or programs like "Media in Transition" at [[MIT]].<ref name="Silver 2004">{{cite journal |last=Silver |first=David |year=2004 |title=Internet/cyberculture/digital culture/new media/fill-in-the-blank studies |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1461444804039915 |url-status=live |journal=New Media & Society |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=55–64 |doi=10.1177/1461444804039915 |s2cid=32041186 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130201203447/http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/6/1/55 |archivedate=2013-02-01}}</ref> On the research side, Internet studies intersects with studies of [[cyberculture]], [[human–computer interaction]], and [[science and technology studies]].
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'''Internet and society''' is a research field that addresses the interrelationship of Internet and [[society]], i.e. how society has changed the Internet and how the Internet has changed society.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sagástegui |first=Diana |date=September 2005 |title=La apropiación social de la tecnología. Un enfoque sociocultural del conocimiento. |url=http://www.razonypalabra.org.mx/anteriores/n49/bienal/Mesa%2012/DianaSagastegui.pdf |journal=Razón y Palabra |volume=49 |pages=1–18 |access-date=2017-09-13 |archive-date=2018-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429192325/http://www.razonypalabra.org.mx/anteriores/n49/bienal/Mesa%2012/DianaSagastegui.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The topic of social issues relating to Internet has become notable since the rise of the World Wide Web, which can be observed from the fact that journals and newspapers run many stories on topics such as [[Internet relationship|cyberlove]], [[cyberbullying|cyberhate]], [[Web 2.0]], [[cybercrime]], [[cyberpolitics]], [[Internet economy]], etc.
As most of the scientific monographs that have considered Internet and society in their book titles are social theoretical in nature, Internet and society can be considered as a primarily social theoretical research approach of Internet studies.{{Original research inline|date=November 2007}}{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}

== Topics of study ==
In recent years, Internet studies have become institutionalized as courses of study, and even separate departments, at many institutions of [[higher education|higher learning]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-94-024-1555-1 |title=Second International Handbook of Internet Research |publisher=Springer |year=2019 |editor-last=Hunsinger |editor-first=Jeremy |pages=281–335 |language=en |chapter=Chapters 17–18 |doi=10.1007/978-94-024-1555-1 |isbn=978-94-024-1553-7 |oclc=1110828931 |editor-last2=Allen |editor-first2=Matthew M. |editor-last3=Klastrup |editor-first3=Lisbeth}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Samuel |first=Alexandra |date=August 9, 2016 |title=A Novel Defense of the Internet |work=[[JSTOR Daily]] |url=https://daily.jstor.org/a-novel-defense-of-the-internet/ |access-date=September 10, 2022 |quote=Departments of Internet Studies have now been established at a number of universities, and the field has its own handbook and research association. |archive-date=September 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910083158/https://daily.jstor.org/a-novel-defense-of-the-internet/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Disciplines that contribute to Internet studies include:
* [[Computer-mediated communication]] (CMC): such as the role of [[e-mail]], [[social media]], [[Massively multiplayer online role-playing game|MMORPGs]], [[online chat]], [[blog]]s, and [[text messaging]] in communication processes.{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=1—4, 11, 18—19, 88, 93, 117—122}}
* [[Digital rights]]: including [[Internet privacy|privacy]], [[Internet censorship|free speech]], [[intellectual property]], and [[digital rights management]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tsatsou |first=Panayiota |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sB03DAAAQBAJ |title=Internet Studies: Past, Present and Future Directions |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-4094-4642-2 |location= |pages=142–145 |oclc=890213173}}</ref>
* [[Digital labor]] and the "[[gig economy]]".
* [[Internet architecture]]: including the fundamental programming and architecture of the Internet, such as [[TCP/IP]], [[HTML]], [[Cascading Style Sheets|CSS]], [[Common Gateway Interface|CGI]], [[ColdFusion|CFML]], [[Document Object Model|DOM]], [[JavaScript|JS]], [[PHP]], [[XML]].
* [[Internet culture]]: including the emergence of [[Internet slang]], [[cyberculture]] and [[digital music]].
* [[Internet security]]: such as the structure and propagation of [[viruses]], [[malware]], and software exploits, as well as methods of protection, including [[antivirus]] programs and [[firewall (networking)|firewalls]].
* [[Online communities]]: including Internet [[Internet forum|forums]], [[blog]]s, and [[Massively multiplayer online role-playing game|MMORPGs]].{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=12—13, 24—42}}<ref name=":0" />
* [[Open source software]]: focusing on the ability of Internet users to collaborate to modify, develop, and improve pieces of software which are freely available to the public without charge.
* [[Sociology of the Internet]]: including the social implications of the [[Internet]], new [[social network]]s, [[Virtual community|online societies]] (virtual communities), identity practices and [[social interaction]] on the Internet.{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=111—115, 304, 332—347}}<ref name=":0" />
* [[Science and technology studies]]: how and why we have the digital technologies we have, and how society shapes their development.
* Internet and [[social media use in politics]]: including its use for mobilizing political campaigns and protests.{{sfn|Dutton ''et al.''|2013|p=401–437}}
* [[Web archiving]] and the [[history of the Internet]]: preservation of the objects of study, and focusing on the development of the Internet over time.{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=12—13, 24—42}}

== Key journals ==
A number of academic journals are central to communicating research in the field, including ''[[Bad Subjects]]'', ''[[Convergence (journal)|Convergence]]'', ''[[CTheory]]'', ''[[Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking|Cyber Psychology & Behaviour]]'', ''[[Computers in Human Behavior]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.journals.elsevier.com/computers-in-human-behavior/|title=Computers in Human Behavior|work=Elsevier|access-date=2014-08-12|archive-date=2019-04-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414045043/https://www.journals.elsevier.com/computers-in-human-behavior|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[First Monday (journal)|First Monday]]'', ''[[Information, Communication & Society]]'',{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=2}} ''[[The Information Society]]'', ''[[Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication]]'',{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=2}} ''M/C Journal'', ''[[New Media & Society]]'',{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=2}} ''[[Social Science Computer Review]]'',{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=21}} ''[[tripleC]]'',  ''Fibreculture Journal'',<ref>{{cite web |title=The Fibreculture Journal |url=http://www.fibreculturejournal.org/ |access-date=2014-12-27 |archive-date=2019-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512184224/http://fibreculturejournal.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''TeknoKultura''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Teknokultura. Revista de Cultura Digital y Movimientos Sociales |trans-title=TechnoKultura. Magazine of Digital Culture and Social Movements |url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/TEKN |website=Universidad Complutense de Madrid |language=es |access-date=2022-09-11 |archive-date=2019-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515114001/https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/TEKN |url-status=live }}</ref> However, research relating to internet studies appears in a diverse range of venues and disciplines.

== History ==
[[Barry Wellman]] argues that Internet studies may find its beginnings with the 1978 publication of ''The Network Nation'', and was largely dominated by computer scientists, presenting at venues like the annual [[CSCW]] conference.<ref name="Wellman 2004">{{cite journal |last=Wellman |first=Barry |year=2004 |title=The three ages of internet studies: ten, five and zero years ago |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461444804040633 |url-status=live |journal=New Media & Society |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=123–129 |doi=10.1177/1461444804040633 |s2cid=31491225 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130201215953/http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/6/1/123 |archivedate=2013-02-01}}</ref>{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=17}} These were quickly joined by researchers in [[ebusiness|business]] fields and library and information science.<ref name="Rice 2005">{{cite journal |last1=Rice |first1=Ronald E. |year=2005 |title=New media/internet research topics of the Association of Internet Researchers |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01972240500189232 |journal=The Information Society |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=285–299 |citeseerx=10.1.1.589.855 |doi=10.1080/01972240500189232 |s2cid=32711286 |access-date=2022-09-11 |archive-date=2022-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911053547/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01972240500189232 |url-status=live }}</ref> By the late 1990s, more attention was being paid to systematic investigation of users and how they made use of the new technologies.{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=1, 19—20}}

During the 1990s, the rapid diffusion of Internet access began to attract more attention from a number of social science and humanities disciplines, including the field of communication.<ref name="Newhagen & Rafaeli 1996">{{cite journal| last1 = Newhagen| first1 = John E.| last2 = Rafaeli| first2 = Sheizaf| title = Why communication researchers should study the internet: a dialog| journal = Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication| volume = 1| issue = 4| year = 1996| url = http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol1/issue4/rafaeli.html| access-date = 2009-10-30| archive-date = 2012-11-05| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121105163927/http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol1/issue4/rafaeli.html| url-status = live}}</ref> Some of these investigations, like the Pew Internet & American Life project<ref>{{cite web |date=8 October 2015 |title=Internet & Technology |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/internet-technology/ |work=Pew Research Center |access-date=11 September 2022 |archive-date=11 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911053548/https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/internet-technology/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=19—20}} and the World Internet Project<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldinternetproject.net/|title=World Internet Project|author=World Internet Project|access-date=2009-10-30|archive-date=2021-03-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328111147/http://www.worldinternetproject.net/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=19—20}} framed the research in terms of traditional social science approaches, with a focus less on the technology than on those who use them. But the focus remained at the aggregate level. In the UK, the ESRC Programme on Information and Communications Technologies (1986–1996)<ref>{{cite web |author=Robin Manse |title=Information and Communication Technology Policy Research in the United Kingdom: A Perspective |url=http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/792/698 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209044851/https://cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/792/698 |archive-date=February 9, 2022 |access-date=September 11, 2022 }}</ref> laid considerable ground work on how society and ICTs interact, bringing together important clusters of scholars from media and communications, society, innovation, law, policy and industry across leading UK universities.

In 1996, this interest was expressed in other ways as well. [[Georgetown University]] began offering a related master's program in that year, and at the [[University of Maryland]], David Silver created the Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rccs.usfca.edu/|title=RCCS: Welcome|website=rccs.usfca.edu|access-date=2009-10-31|archive-date=2018-07-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728105023/http://rccs.usfca.edu/|url-status=live}}</ref> on the web. [[Middlebury College]] developed Politics of Virtual Realities, one of the first undergraduate courses dedicated to exploring the political, legal and normative implications of the Internet for liberal democracy.<ref>{{cite web |author= |title=PSCI0307A-S11 |url=http://catalog.middlebury.edu/offerings/view/catalog/catalog%2FMCUG/offering/section%2F201120%2F21966 |work=Middlebury College |access-date=2013-10-30 |archive-date=2013-11-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101065457/http://catalog.middlebury.edu/offerings/view/catalog/catalog%2FMCUG/offering/section%2F201120%2F21966 |url-status=live }}</ref> By 2001, ''[[The Chronicle of Higher Education]]'' noted that "Internet studies" was emerging as a discipline in its own right, as suggested by the first undergraduate program in the area, offered at [[Brandeis University]], and noted that "perhaps the most telling sign of the field's momentum" was the popularity of the annual conference created by the then nascent [[Association of Internet Researchers]].<ref name="McLemee 2001">{{cite news |last=McLemee |first=Scott |date=30 March 2001 |title=Internet Studies 1.0: a Discipline Is Born |volume=47 |page=A24 |newspaper=The Chronicle of Higher Education |issue=29 |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/internet-studies-1-0-a-discipline-is-born/ |access-date=10 September 2022 |archive-date=10 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910080855/https://www.chronicle.com/article/internet-studies-1-0-a-discipline-is-born/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Scholarly organizations ==
* [[American Society for Information Science and Technology]] (ASIST)
* [[American Sociological Association]], Section on Communication and Information Technologies (CITASA)
* [[Association of Internet Researchers]] (AoIR){{sfn|Consalvo ''et al.''|2011|p=12}}
* [[Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication]], Communication & Technology Division (CTEC)
* [[Association for Computing Machinery]] (ACM)
* [[European Association for the Study of Science and Technology]] (EASST)
* [[European Consortium for Political Research]] (ECPR) Internet & Politics Standing Group (SG)
* [[International Communication Association]] Communication & Technology (CAT) division
* [[National Communication Association]] (NCA) Human Communication and Technology Division (HCTD)
* [[Society for Social Studies of Science]] (4S)

== See also ==
* [[Digital history]]
* [[Digital humanities]]
* [[Internet research ethics]]
* [[Library science]]
* [[Web science]]

== References ==
<references />

== Sources ==
{{refbegin|indent=no|100em}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781444314861 |title=The Handbook of Internet Studies |date=April 2011 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-4051-8588-2 |editor-last=Consalvo |editor-first=Mia |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781444314861 |editor-last2=Ess |editor-first2=Charles |ref={{sfnref |Consalvo et al. |2011}} |access-date=2022-09-10 |archive-date=2022-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910053354/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781444314861 |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite book |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34364 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Internet Studies |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=9780199589074 |editor-last=Dutton |editor-first=William H. |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199589074.001.0001 |series=Oxford Handbooks |ref={{sfnref |Dutton et al. |2013}} |access-date=2022-09-11 |archive-date=2022-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911025632/https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34364 |url-status=live }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/35088 |title=Society and the Internet: How Networks of Information and Communication are Changing Our Lives |date=July 18, 2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-187932-6 |editor-last=Graham |editor-first=Mark |edition=2nd |location= |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198843498.001.0001 |oclc=1128056976 |editor-last2=Dutton |editor-first2=William H.}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Ess |first1=Charles M |last2=Dutton |first2=William H |date=April 2013 |title=Internet Studies: Perspectives on a rapidly developing field |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461444812462845 |journal=New Media & Society |language=en |volume=15 |issue=5 |pages=633–643 |doi=10.1177/1461444812462845 |s2cid=12436793 |issn=1461-4448}}

[[Category:Internet culture]]
[[Category:Internet|studies]]
[[Category:Interdisciplinary subfields]]
[[Category:Sociology of the Internet]]