Internet/Cyberculture/ Digital Culture/New Media/ Fill-in-the-Blank Studies

For the time being, it appears as though the largest umbrella underneath which many of us would huddle is called internet studies. While simultaneously drawing and building from other, older research streams (computers and composition, computer-supported cooperative work, hyper/ cybertext theory, and human–computer interaction, to name just a few) – and waiting for others to join, follow, or contest – internet studies (also labeled studies of cyberculture, digital culture, information society, or new media) continues to grow as what can only be called a meta-field of study. The meta-field’s development and directions, coupled with attention towards the affiliations that its members do and do not make, constitute an important and interesting site of intellectual, academic, and political work. All the signifying elements of academic legitimacy – or alternatively what might be called discipline-building – are in place. There are both online and offline centers and organizations, such as the following: