Association of Internet Researchers


The Association of Internet Researchers is a learned society dedicated to the advancement of the transdisciplinary field of Internet studies. Founded in 1999, it is an international, member-based support network promoting critical and scholarly Internet research, independent from traditional disciplines and existing across academic borders.
AoIR was formally founded on May 30, 1999, at a meeting of nearly sixty scholars at the San Francisco Hilton and Towers, following initial discussions at a 1998 conference at Drake University entitled "The World Wide Web and Contemporary Cultural Theory: Metaphor, Magic & Power". As the Chronicle of Higher Education noted, its rapid growth during the first few years of its existence marked the coming of age of Internet studies. It has continued to grow, with a membership of approximately 400 scholars. It supports AIR-L, a mailing list with over 5,000 subscribers.
AoIR holds an annual academic conference, as well as promoting online discussion and collaboration through a long-running mailing list, and other venues.

Activities

The Association supports scholarly communication in a number of ways:
#NameTerm
1Steve Jones1999–2003
2Nancy Baym2003–2005
3Matthew Allen2005–2007
4Charles Ess2007–2009
5Mia Consalvo2009–2011
6Alexander Halavais2011–2013
7Lori Kendall2013–2015
8Jennifer Stromer-Galley2015–2017
9Axel Bruns2017–2019