In less than ten years, the world wide web has become part of everyday life. During the 1990s, it was often perceived as a possible source of dramatic social change for business, politics, and the arts. Now, it is increasingly clear that the web has itself been shaped by the existing institutions of society -- businesses, parliaments, schools, families -- even while challenging some of their structures and premises. This volume takes stock of the web, a decade after its popular breakthrough. The articles examine websites as interfaces to contemporary culture and as resources for political participation. Following accounts of the history of computers and the web, the volume presents concrete analyses of how politicians, corporations, activists, cultural institutions, and media weave the web for the general public.

In less than ten years, the world wide web has become part of everyday life. During the 1990s, it was often perceived as a possible source of dramatic social change for business, politics, and the arts. Now, it is increasingly clear that the web has itself been shaped by the existing institutions of society -- businesses, parliaments, schools, families -- even while challenging some of their structures and premises. This volume takes stock of the web, a decade after its popular breakthrough. The articles examine websites as interfaces to contemporary culture and as resources for political participation. Following accounts of the history of computers and the web, the volume presents concrete analyses of how politicians, corporations, activists, cultural institutions, and media weave the web for the general public.

In less than ten years, the world wide web has become part of everyday life. During the 1990s, it was often perceived as a possible source of dramatic social change for business, politics, and the arts. Now, it is increasingly clear that the web has itself been shaped by the existing institutions of society -- businesses, parliaments, schools, families -- even while challenging some of their structures and premises. This volume takes stock of the web, a decade after its popular breakthrough. The articles examine websites as interfaces to contemporary culture and as resources for political participation. Following accounts of the history of computers and the web, the volume presents concrete analyses of how politicians, corporations, activists, cultural institutions, and media weave the web for the general public.