Gauntlett, David and Horsley, Ross (Eds.). Web.Studies.

Chad, Raphael

Gauntlett, David and Horsley, Ross (Eds.). Web.Studies (2d ed.), London: Arnold, 2004. Pp. xiii, 327. ISBN 0-340-81472-1 (pb.) $19.95.

The editors of this anthology on the culture of the Internet--substantially revised from the first edition that appeared four years earlier--aimed to create a work that "treated Internet media like any other popular media that appeals to people (without, of course, forgetting about the things that made it unique)" (p. 3). Thus, the editors were confronted with the same interesting challenge faced by the writers of a number of books now jockeying for adoption in courses that introduce new media to undergraduates: defining a young field, its boundaries, and its central research themes. The distinguishing feature of this survey of the field is its emphasis on the culture of the Internet, and more specifically on online communication by various subcultures (rather than by major institutions or at the most frequented Web sites).

Part One is composed of three chapters that offer introductions to the history of Internet studies, Internet research methods, and major themes in the field (including new opportunities for self-expression, community-building, identity formation, commercial influence, and impacts on politics.) Part Two, which makes up half the book, examines online culture and the identities offered to users on the Internet. The section includes chapters on the Internet and self-presentation on personal homepages, the construction of masculinity, online fan communities, youthful feminism, filmmaking, online sex, digital art, lesbian pornography, self-help, and fascination with cultural and physical others. Part Three touches on Internet law and economics, with chapters on media conglomerates' marketing and distribution strategies on the web, ways of thinking about the digital divide, intellectual property, and music file sharing. Part Four examines the Internet's contributions to politics, including democratization, war reporting and propaganda, global organizing for women's rights, community development among Native Americans, and the politics of virus writers. A concluding chapter considers the future of the Internet.

The strengths of this collection are its attention to the diverse subcultural outskirts of the Internet as well as its summaries of the field. The range of subcultures represented is broad, from fans to high artists to women's organizations worldwide and more. Yet the introductory chapters that organize the field may be more valuable over time. Laura J. Gurak's introductory chapter clearly relates the history and central themes of research on computer-mediated communication and the broader field of Internet studies over the past two decades. She sees researchers consistently drawn to four unique features of the medium: its speed, reach, anonymity, and interactivity. Nina Wakeford's chapter on the range of research strategies and methods that scholars have used to study the Internet is especially useful to students (or faculty) contemplating their own studies of online content.

At the same time, one hopes that further editions of Web.Studies will be improved upon in several ways. The essays in the present volume describe "a cross-section of interesting cultural and social things happening on the net" (3) but rarely attempt to connect with communication or cultural theory. Modeling the application and adaptation of theory to new media would be especially useful to students. In addition, in a volume devoted mainly to analyzing content and its production, there is room for more research on how Internet users interpret and act on what they find online. As Wakeford notes, this is an important and productive part of the field. Finally, there are some central issues and themes of new media research not included in the present edition that might be incorporated in the future, including online privacy and security, e-government, the Internet's impact on education, the transformation of journalism, debates over how to conceive of the cultural or knowledge industries and those who work in them, the influence of the Internet on the culture of physical spaces (digital cities, outsourcing, various "Silicon" places where Internet technology is produced), and so on.

Web.Studies, or chapters from it, would be most appropriate for undergraduates in introductory courses in new media or cyberculture. It contains lists of helpful web sites at the end of each chapter, a glossary of Internet-related terms (from accessibility to WYSIWYG), a bibliography, and an index.

--Chad Raphael

Santa Clara University