In this session it was explored, from a technology assessment perspective, the opportunities and impacts of recent salient developments in the Internet. While the main focus was on the so-called social media like social network sites, and microblogging services, Google was also touched. The contributions to this session had complementary perspectives on how the current and forthcoming web architecture is shaped and is or may be shaping society, behaviour, academia, and politics.

This session had Twitter coverage: The hashtag for the overall conference, and this session in particular, was #PaciTA13.

The abstracts of the session can be read here.

Presentations of the session:

• J. Simon

Social media as a topic and a resource for TA

• J. Timmer

Pre-Coded. The way the web shapes our behaviour

• R. König

The Googlization of academia: Scientific content between search engine optimization and personalization

• J. Visser

Politics and Science – through Twitter the Twain Shall Meet? Using Social Media to Provide Input for Evidence Based Policies