詹姆斯•柯蘭 倫敦大學戈爾德史密斯學院（也譯作金匠學院）傳播學教授、戈爾德史密斯－利華休姆媒介研究中心主任，撰寫或編著瞭21種媒介研究的著作，要者有《不需承擔責任的權力》（Power without Responsibility）、《媒介與社會》（Media and Society）、《媒介與權力》（Media and Power），均多次重印，並有五種語言的譯本；曾任加利福尼亞大學、賓夕法尼亞大學、斯坦福大學、奧斯陸大學、斯德哥爾摩大學訪問學者；2011年因媒介、市場和民主研究的學術成就而獲埃德溫•貝剋奬。

娜塔莉•芬頓 倫敦大學戈爾德史密斯學院傳播學教授、戈爾德史密斯－利華休姆媒介研究中心負責人之一，研究重點為媒介的空間、聯係和控製以及全球媒介和民主；論著重點為媒介、政治和新媒介；尤其有誌於公共文化、公共領域和民主的再思考。

德斯•弗裏德曼 倫敦大學戈爾德史密斯學院傳播學高級講師，著有《媒介政策的政治》（The Politics of Media Policy），與人閤編《媒介與恐怖主義：全球視角》（Media and Terrorism: Global Perspectives），任《全球媒介與傳播》（Global Media and Communication）雜誌編輯、哥爾德史密斯－利華休姆媒介研究中心研究員。

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.