Are we ready for the Web Science Research Initiative?
The Internet has completely changed the way the world lives. And the changes are not over. How society will morph as we become more and more connected and exposed to more and more applications that do what we want them to is anybody's guess. And that's a bad thing.
This is why some the Internet's earliest pioneers are coming together to form the Web Science Research Initiative, a body of multi-disciplinary scholars whose task it will be to study and understanding the social, economic, and even anthropologic future of an Internet-reliant world. Want dark foreboding? How about undemocratic forces spreading wildly; disinformation overtaking reasonable populaces; even sex and gambling addictions soaring out of control, ruining lives and economies. The good news? People will eventually stop making the Numa Numa videos.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6108578.stm