Internet studies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Internet studies is an emerging field of academia dealing with the interaction between the Internet and modern society, and the sociological and technological implications on one another.
It is available as a major or minor course of study at several institutions of higher learning, including the University of Oxford, Curtin University of Technology, Brandeis University, Appalachian State University and the University of Minnesota. Students and associated academia in the field study a wide array of topics, including Internet-security, digital rights, and the spread of viruses and malware.
The Association of Internet Researchers was established in 2000 (at its inaugural annual conference) to provide support and networking for scholars and academics associated with the field of Internet Studies
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[edit] Topics of Study
[edit] Internet Mechanics
The fundamental workings of the Internet, including the programming behind it (HTML & CSS, Java, XML, PHP, and other languages). Internet Studies students often learn one or more of such languages and apply them in the form of graded academic assignments.
[edit] Internet Security
How even the smallest pieces of programming can have devastating effects on the rest of the online community (i.e. the Code Red worm). Trojan horses, other viruses, malware, and software exploits (i.e. the buffer overflow exploit), in regard to both how they work and how they are spread.
Methods of protection, including antivirus programs, firewalls, and good maintenance skills (such as creating passwords complex enough that they are not easily broken, and keeping the operating system and other software components properly updated are key in maintaining security). The question of whether "safe computing" should be taught alongside with safe sex in the new millennium.
[edit] Online Communities
Increasing numbers of people involve themselves with interactive online communities each year. Internet forums, where registered users can post commentary to user-created topics of discussion, known as threads, are highly popular. Sites such as General Mayhem and SomethingAwful boast over 50,000 active members.
The "blog" community has also grown rapidly in recent years. Blogs are user-created online journals, where daily updates, music, and comments may be added by other users. In some Internet & Society programs, students may be required to create and maintain their own interactive blog site.
Online gaming communities also boast a significant number of participants.
[edit] Internet Culture
As more and more people choose the Internet as their main source of communication, cyberspace has developed a "culture" all to its own. Not only are languages evolving and giving us familiar phrases unused outside of the Internet, such as "ROFL", "LOL", and "OMG", inside jokes such as "All your base are belong to us" have caught on. Some websites, such as Slashdot have become legendary among Internet users.
[edit] Effects on Communication
The world is steadily becoming linked by Internet technology. Now phones, Internet, and video can be delivered across IT (Internet technology) hardware, contributing to globalization and the global sharing of media. Languages evolve and adapt to these changes, lending to the creation of "Internet speak", or language elements found solely in cyberspace (these linguistic changes are an element of Internet Culture).
[edit] Digital Rights
The ethical dilemma of whether individuals should be allowed to share data on peer-to-peer networks such as I2hub, Kazaa, and the popular yet demised Napster program. This is currently a highly debated topic, as weak collectives of users are currently defending their sharing abilities in light of legal action by organizations such as the RIAA.
[edit] Intellectual Properly Law in Cyberspace
Methods of copyrighting an individual's work on the computer, whether it is audio, graphical, textual, or programming. Applications of intellectual property law to digital products and ideas. Exploration of solutions to an individual's need to copyright material online, such as Creative Commons.
[edit] Open Source Software
Millions of programmers collaborate to modify, develop, and improve pieces of software which are freely available to the public without charge. This is possible due to the easy access to the source code which allow such programs to operate. It is debated as to whether the open source movement is beneficial or harmful to e-commerce and the commercial software industry.
