OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 11/14/2012, SPi
8
the oxford handbook of internet studies
community generally avoids any claim that Internet Studies is a discipline, in favor of defining it as an “interdisciplinary” or “multidisciplinary” field, particularly in light of its fragmentation across so many existing departments, disciplines, and newly formed journals (Baym 2005). Interdisciplinary entails a recognition that research is focused most often on addressing problems, such as understanding the social implications of the Internet, like narrowing digital divides, rather than advancing a particular theory. Studies often draw from more than one disciplinary perspective, and are often anchored in multidisciplinary teams. In fact, many problems in Internet Studies require an interdisciplinary approach. For example, it would be difficult to study anonymity online without a strong background in technology as well as in the social sciences, law, and policy. Even here, some prefer to speak of “multidisciplinary” research to emphasize the degree to which studies are anchored in a variety of theories and research methods in particular disciplines, although these inter- and multidisciplinary distinctions are seldom fundamental, and the terms are used almost interchangeably. There are other developing areas of consensus within this field, such as a move away from any strict duality between the old and the new or the real and the virtual (Consalvo and Ess 2011: 4; Woolgar 2002), as well as an evolving set of major questions, such as defined in Table 1.1 (Consalvo and Ess 2011: 4–5). Likewise, there is a general agreement that research should question taken-for-granted assumptions about the Internet and its societal implications. Nevertheless, a lack of consensus characterizes the field on a number of issues (Schrum 2005). It is not due to major cleavages within the field, as much as to the youth, rapid development, and diversity of Internet Studies. One of the more pivotal differences of perspective surrounds the very definition of the Internet. The next section briefly discusses this issue and how its resolution is related to how narrowly or broadly people draw the history of the Internet as well as the boundaries of the field.
Defining the Internet—narrow and broad conceptions As an interdisciplinary field, Internet Studies does not have an orthodox approach. Moreover, the culture of this developing field is highly individualistic, as reflected in its evolution as a horizontal network of individuals working across geographical and institutional boundaries, as opposed to a more highly ordered institutional structure, such as a Royal Society. For example, ambiguity surrounds many terms across Internet studies, with scholars offering various specific definitions. This includes the very definition of the “Internet,” as well as rather trivial debates like whether or not to have an initial capital letter for “Internet” and “Web.” You will see variation within this volume on how narrowly or broadly the Internet and technology are defined. Some authors, such as Tim Unwin (Chapter 25) endorse a narrow, technical definition of the Internet as a specific set of artifacts, protocols, or standards that enable computers to be networked—Transmission Control Protocol/Internet