reviewed by Jowel C.
Laguerre, Ph.D.
Vice President of Academic and Student Services
Montgomery College-Montgomery
County, Maryland
Thomas Valovic (2000), Digital Mythologies: The Hidden Complexities of the Internet. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick.
The Internet has occupied an important place in the lives of many
people. These lives, may they be business, education, or the family,
have been changed forever. The speed of the development of the
Internet has not allowed individuals, and perhaps government
officials enough time to act proactively. By the time pornography hit
the Internet, society was wondering what to do about it. In
Digital Mythologies, Valovic tried to provoke the reader to
action and to not react to the technological developments
nonchalantly.
Valovic has his career in the media. He is an authority in the
writing about technologies, as an author of several articles, and as
former editor in chief of Telecommunications magazine. He has
been involved in the critique and reporting about the Internet since
1991 when it was decided that the Internet would be used for
business.
In reading Digital Mythologies, one may think that Mr. Valovic is anti-Internet or anti-technology. However, his main goal seems to challenge the wisdom that the Internet and technology are the answers to our ills. He criticized the media for perpetuating this belief without challenging the truth and exposing what may be harmful about the Internet.
The Chronicle of Higher Education decried the lack of scholarship about the Internet. Valovic has made a contribution toward the development of scholarship regarding technology and the Internet. His contribution tries to demystify the Internet. The reader will find herself/himself arguing with the author regarding certain practices he questioned. By arguing with him, he has raised the level of consciousness of the reader.
The reader will find Valovic's literature review an invaluable asset in pursuing these issues further. The content seems to be repetitive at times. Overall, he presents good evidence for his arguments.
Valovic gets you to think and engages you in a reflection and defense of your own beliefs regarding technology. If you did not have a feeling, his arguments evokes one. While the work is not empirical, it addresses issues that all citizens should consider. As he says, technology has penetrated the most intimate parts of our lives.