Internet Science is a new and exciting interdisciplinary field. Its purpose is the conduct of empirical studies which examine the Internet as both an instrument for, and an object of, scientific investigation.
Internet scientists are using the Internet to conduct research in their mother disciplines using the new medium. Some are also looking at the Internet itself, and at the social-technological phenomena happening in its webs. And some look at us, humans, and how we act and react in the presence of the phenomenon called "the Net".
This book is the first comprehensive collection of contributions to Internet Science appearing in English, written by highly respected experts from seven different countries. The beginning reader will find a first-class introduction to Internet Science, with exciting empirical results, useful advice and detailed examples to follow. Experts will benefit from receiving an up-to-date overview of the field, and from descriptions of new techniques and many references to interesting sources. Dimensions of Internet Science is unique in its wide and substantial coverage of the new and rapidly developing field.
Typical readers for whom the book is written include: The Internet user who is interested in knowing more about social and behavioral implications of the net technology, and how the Internet is used for exciting new scientific endeavors; online researchers; Web communicators; social scientists; marketing and e-commerce professionals; people working in overlapping areas of the communication and media community; college professors and students in business, the behavioral sciences, the media, and the social sciences.