This collection brings together the most interesting and outstanding papers from the Internet Research Conference held in Toronto in 2003. Taken individually, each paper makes an important contribution to the emerging field of Internet research, but the collection as a whole presents key perspectives on the most significant directions in the field. In particular, the papers discuss how we must now consider the relationship of Internet-based activities to those «offline», rather than concentrating exclusively on the virtual. Papers advance important ideas and present research findings in relation to information theory, the Internet at home, theorizing time and the Internet, online activism, the digital divide, and more. This annual, the second in the series, demonstrates the vibrant and diverse nature of Internet scholarship fostered by the Association of Internet Researchers.

Textbook

Whether or not one believes the hyperbolic claims about the Internet being the biggest thing since the invention of the wheel, the Internet is a medium with great consequences for social and economic life. Doing Internet Research is written to help people discern in what ways it has commanded the public imagination, and the methodological issues that arise when one tries to study and understand the social processes occurring within the Internet. Each contributor to the volume offers original responses in the search for, and critique of, methods with which to study the Internet and the social, political, economic, artistic, communicative phenomena occurring within and around it. This book provides encouragement for readers getting started with Internet research and also provides perspective on this new and ubiquitous communication medium.

Internet Research Ethics for the Social Age: New Challenges, Cases, and Contexts directly engages with the discussions and debates surrounding the Internet, and stimulates new ways to think about - and work towards resolving - the novel ethical dilemmas we face as internet and social media-based research continues to evolve.

Winner, 2021 Harry Shaw and Katrina Hazzard-Donald Award for Outstanding Work in African-American Popular Culture Studies, given by the Popular Culture Association Winner, 2021 Nancy Baym Annual Book Award, given by the Association of Internet Researchers An explanation of the digital practices of the black Internet From BlackPlanet to #BlackGirlMagic, Distributed Blackness places blackness at the very center of internet culture. André Brock Jr. claims issues of race and ethnicity as inextricable from and formative of contemporary digital culture in the United States. Distributed Blackness analyzes a host of platforms and practices (from Black Twitter to Instagram, YouTube, and app development) to trace how digital media have reconfigured the meanings and performances of African American identity. Brock moves beyond widely circulated deficit models of respectability, bringing together discourse analysis with a close reading of technological interfaces to develop nuanced arguments about how “blackness” gets worked out in various technological domains. As Brock demonstrates, there’s nothing niche or subcultural about expressions of blackness on social media: internet use and practice now set the terms for what constitutes normative participation. Drawing on critical race theory, linguistics, rhetoric, information studies, and science and technology studies, Brock tabs between black-dominated technologies, websites, and social media to build a set of black beliefs about technology. In explaining black relationships with and alongside technology, Brock centers the unique joy and sense of community in being black online now.

Internet Research Skills is a clear and concise guide to the effective use of the Internet for students in the social sciences. The open web is becoming central to student research practice, not least because of its accessibility, and this clear text describes search strategies and outlines the critical skills necessary to deal with such diverse and disorganized materials. This book covers all of the essential aspects of Internet research, with each chapter containing a number of illustrations, inset boxes, and short exercises.

The internet is a compelling tool for research, enabling efficient, cost-effective data collection and facilitating access to large samples and new populations. This book presents a state-of-the-art guide to the internet as a tool for conducting research in the social and behavioural sciences using qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. New to this edition: Fully re-written to reflect the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies Expanded coverage of web surveys for data collection Unobtrusive methods to harvest data from online archives and documents New practical tools and resources, where to find them, and how to keep up-to-date with new developments as they emerge New chapter on research ethics and discussion of ethical practicalities throughout Guiding the reader through the theoretical, ethical and practical issues of using the internet in research, this is an essential resource for researchers wishing to assess how the latest techniques, tools and methods in internet-mediated research may support and expand research in their own field.