China Social Science Review

No.1, 2021

 

The Future Is Here: Envisioning Internet Historiography

(Abstract)

 

Yin Yuanping

 

Information technology, represented by the Internet, has a tremendous power to transform society. The Internet has become one of the most important variables influencing the shape and trend of future historiography and contemporary history; social life in the Internet era will change the shape of historical materials, influence existing academic production mechanisms and create completely different historians. At the same time, Internet historiography will also have an impact on the existing conceptions of history and historiography. Today, the Internet has not only begun to become a part of history, but is also likely to become the underlying structure of contemporary history. The impact of the Internet will not only be felt in the present and the future, but will also be projected into the past, thus contributing to revolutionary and overarching changes in historiography, including existing historical narratives.