On the Meaning of the Web as an Object of Study

2026-04-14

AI Summary

The World Wide Web has evolved from a well-defined technical artifact into an omnipresent digital environment, resulting in blurred disciplinary boundaries, an identity crisis within its academic community, and increasing fragmentation of the field. This work systematically identifies, for the first time, two pivotal drivers of this crisis: the “tragedy of the academic commons” and the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence. Through a qualitative investigation grounded in historical analysis of scholarly discourse, longitudinal examination of top-tier conference trajectories, and sociological theoretical frameworks, the study uncovers the deep-rooted causes of Web research fragmentation. It calls for a reconceptualization of the Web research paradigm to establish a coherent theoretical foundation and provide strategic direction for forging future scholarly consensus.

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Web
• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Argumentation

Application Category

• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data quality in the era of algorithmically-generated content
• Responsible Web: Algorithmic accountability and transparency on the web
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Sustainability of Web economics

Abstract

This text advances the hypothesis that the meaning of the Web as an object of study has diluted as a clear research domain. One example of this phenomenon is the identity crisis of the Web Conference and the International Semantic Web Conference. At its root is the Web's evolution from a focused technological object into a universal digital environment, a transition whose very success has fragmented its academic community and obscured its core identity. We chart this trajectory from a well-defined object of study to a fragmented backdrop, identifying key pressures such as the "academic tragedy of the commons" and the disruptive force of AI. We conclude that a fundamental community discussion is needed to define what it means to study the Web now that it has become the universal infrastructure for global digital activity.

Problem

• Web as an object of study
• identity crisis
• academic fragmentation
• digital infrastructure
• research domain

Innovation

• Web as infrastructure
• academic identity crisis
• tragedy of the commons
• AI disruption
• research domain fragmentation