Here Comes Everybody: humanities computing meets the era of social media

Abstract

This article sets out to re-evaluate some of the themes raised in the Alternation number on humanities computing that I guest edited in 2002, and to trace their subsequent evolution. To what degree can the meeting of literature and technology, however tentative, influence social transformation? We reflect on the themes of cyberspace and ‘collective intelligence’, ICTs and creative writing; virtual classrooms as open forums for discussion and dialogue; digital libraries to support research in the humanities; the Internet as a platform for promoting development, the advent of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and their implications for education in developing countries; making the information society accessible to all. The effects of the mobile Internet are wide-ranging and this article explores the extent to which knowledge production in the humanities may be able to harness the potential of the new digital ecosystem to effect social transformation.