詹姆斯•柯兰 伦敦大学戈尔德史密斯学院（也译作金匠学院）传播学教授、戈尔德史密斯－利华休姆媒介研究中心主任，撰写或编著了21种媒介研究的著作，要者有《不需承担责任的权力》（Power without Responsibility）、《媒介与社会》（Media and Society）、《媒介与权力》（Media and Power），均多次重印，并有五种语言的译本；曾任加利福尼亚大学、宾夕法尼亚大学、斯坦福大学、奥斯陆大学、斯德哥尔摩大学访问学者；2011年因媒介、市场和民主研究的学术成就而获埃德温•贝克奖。

娜塔莉•芬顿 伦敦大学戈尔德史密斯学院传播学教授、戈尔德史密斯－利华休姆媒介研究中心负责人之一，研究重点为媒介的空间、联系和控制以及全球媒介和民主；论著重点为媒介、政治和新媒介；尤其有志于公共文化、公共领域和民主的再思考。

德斯•弗里德曼 伦敦大学戈尔德史密斯学院传播学高级讲师，著有《媒介政策的政治》（The Politics of Media Policy），与人合编《媒介与恐怖主义：全球视角》（Media and Terrorism: Global Perspectives），任《全球媒介与传播》（Global Media and Communication）杂志编辑、哥尔德史密斯－利华休姆媒介研究中心研究员。

The growth of the internet has been spectacular. There are now more 1.5 billion internet users across the globe, about one quarter of the world's population. This is certainly a new phenomenon that is of enormous significance for the economic, political and social life of contemporary societies. However, much popular and academic writing about the internet takes a technologically deterministic view, assuming that the internet's potential will be realised in essentially transformative ways. This was especially true in the euphoric moment of the mid-1990s, when many commentators wrote about the internet with awe and wonderment. While this moment may be over, its underlying technocentrism - the belief that technology determines outcomes - lingers on, and with it, a failure to understand the internet in its social, economic and political context. Misunderstanding the Internet is a short introduction, encompassing the history, sociology, politics and economics of the internet and its impact on society. The book has a simple three part structure: Part 1 looks at the history of the internet, and offers an overview of the internet's place in society Part 2 focuses on the control and economics of the internet Part 3 examines the internet's political and cultural influence Misunderstanding the Internet is a polemical, sociologically and historically informed textbook that aims to challenge both popular myths and existing academic orthodoxies around the internet.