“Big Data”: Big Gaps of Knowledge in the Field of Internet Science

As a member of the editorial board and editors of the International Journal of Internet Science we would like to take this opportunity to comment on some interesting developments in the field of Internet science and Web science. The analysis of so-called “Big Data” has received a remarkable momentum. Conducting a search with “Big Data” as a query, we find 130 entries in the ISI Web of Science, as of July 12. Of these, 94 publications have appeared since 2008, which is no surprise because before 2008 there was no terminological consensus. For 2008 through 2011 the number of publications in the ISI Web of Science equals 16, 16, 13, and 26. In the first half of 2012 (July 12), we find 23 publications for just the first six months, suggesting a rapid future increase. As we explain below, this stream of research has provided useful insights, but also suffers from some serious limitations. The interesting point is that these limitations can (and have to) be addressed by theory guided research that is typically conducted by social scientists. Accordingly, opportunities emerge for those social and behavioral scientists who are willing to collaborate with the Big Data researchers in the natural, engineering, and computer sciences. While this short editorial does not claim to provide an exhaustive overview of Big Data research we hope that it contributes to clarifying what type of questions and problems need input from the social and behavioral sciences. We have the feeling that these knowledge gaps have not yet received the attention they deserve, and would certainly welcome submissions along these lines in this journal.