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Web Science and society: Towards a theoretical foundation for an emerging field of study

In 2005–06, researchers from the US and the UK met to outline a framework for a new discipline called “Web Science”. What resulted was the foundation of the “Web Science Research Initiative” (WSRI), a multidisciplinary body charged with a mandate to explore - as one coalesced unit - the Web's evolution, design, operation, governance and impact on society. For example, Web Science scholarship is designed to integrate discussions on how new Web-related ICTs (such as the Deep and Semantic Webs) affect online content and the society that ultimately interacts with it. Though the discipline itself may be new in name, it is not necessarily new in concept. Indeed, after providing a look at the WSRI's framework and some recent responses to it, this paper serves to highlight existing and historical traditions in communications theory that inform the Web Science research agenda. Specifically, I situate key themes within the broader discourse of technological determinism versus theories on the social construction of technology (SCOT), as well as medium theory. I thus consider how the tenets of Web Science should ideally seek to understand both the Web's impact upon society and what steps may be taken by us to mediate, if desired, its further proliferation through a mainstream environment predicated on technological convergence. The central question inherent in this exploration is how researchers may extract utility from work completed in this discipline, both now and in future.