ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I examine some of the metaphors that are presently being used to describe the Internet in order to understand the perceptions and expectations of some of the actors involved in shaping the Internet. The
Internet is not yet a stable technology, in the broadest sense of the term ‘technology’: its technical features are changing (though not necessarily all of them, nor at the same rate) and its uses are highly variable. There remains a great deal of interpretative flexibility regarding what it is, what problems it can solve and what problems it may create. The Internet is not simply bandwidth, routers and servers; it includes the social relations associated with the production and use of this network of networks (Thomas and Wyatt, 1999). Because of this instability and uncertainty, policy-makers, industry spokespeople, journalists and academic commentators often deploy metaphors in order to convey their image of what the Internet is or might be. The future has to be discussed in terms of the imaginary, in terms of metaphors. Sometimes, today’s imaginary becomes tomorrow’s lived reality. Therefore, it is important to think about metaphors of the Internet not only because they reveal what different actors think it is but also because they tell us something about what they want it to become. For example, those who use metaphors of consumption generally and shopping malls in particular will devote resources to developing secure exchange mechanisms. Broadcasting metaphors carry with them assumptions about the nature of interaction between audiences and content providers that are more passive than those suggested by interactive role game metaphors and applications.
