This book analyses the large body of research concerning the web according to two basic perspectives: the prevalence of theory-driven explanations over quantitative measurement; the continuity of the "network society" with respect to problematic issues to which social science has devoted much attention. The ensuing reality is really not that new, and web users are really not all that active. And the web, in itself, is far from being a tool of democracy. In the ultimate analysis, what we know about the web depends on whether we decide to examine its surface or plumb its depths.

Andrea Miconi teaches Introduction to Media and Sociology of Cultural Processes at the IULM University of Languages and Communication in Milan.