Summary: Introduction to Unspun

UNSPUN: The Introduction

The World Wide Web is an ever-changing communicative force whose symbiotic relationship with different aspects of the human life – political, social, economical, and aesthetical – makes it a very powerful medium. Indeed, it has such a large place in the lives of those who utilize it. Those who use it will define it differently than one who is not familiar with it. Even the descriptions between users will vary, as each experience with the World Wide Web is different. The Internet is a prominent partner in other modern mediums like print and television and has changed the way that these mediums communicate with the public at large.

UNSPUN begins by asking the question: “what is the Web changing?” Besides the aforementioned change, the influence of the web is palpable. The authors of the introduction even go so far as to reference the amount of times the internet has “sparked a ‘revolution’.” Their reference is very accurate, considering that with every new online technology comes the claim that it will “revolutionize” the way we do things. Besides their example of online courses, other “revolutions” that have been introduced since the book was published include online banking and voice over IP technology.

Besides examining the effect of the Web on the world, the authors want to have the readers examine how language and the web influence each other and re-examine the opinions of the web that are brought by the reader to this book. Many who are not regular users of the web draw their opinions from the press, rather than personal experience. Before the advent of “e-commerce” and professional websites (both business and personal), the internet was seen as a place full of abysmal content, thanks to the press of the time. The positive sides of the online world were overshadowed by this harsh publicity and it wasn’t until the Web had made its way into the mainstream that the world wide web was viewed as a credible source of information.

Another reason why the internet is fascinating to the authors of the introduction is that the rhetoric associated with this medium is always changing, as is the jargon of this arena is constantly in flux, along with the technology that is developed for and from the World Wide Web. The question they pose is whether metaphors of the past, including “the information superhighway”, are as stale as the old versions of the Internet. Their aim is to portray the Web as a viable chameleon-like method of communication and showcase the many ways that the average person can use it in his or her life.