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More Than a Label: Naming the World Wide Web as an Enabling Practice, 1989-96
Technology and Culture
|August 3, 2026
Summary
Naming the World Wide Web was integral to its technological development, not just branding. This process made the web project discussable, recognizable, and legitimate within its organizational and public contexts.
Area of Science:
- History of Computing
- Science and Technology Studies
- Information Science
Background:
- The early development of the World Wide Web at CERN lacked a stable name.
- The process of naming is often viewed as secondary to technological creation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the naming of the World Wide Web as a constitutive element of its technological development.
- To reframe the role of naming in the history of computing and communications.
Main Methods:
- Archival research at CERN
- Analysis of press coverage from 1989-1996
- Interviews with early World Wide Web project members
Main Results:
- The World Wide Web evolved through provisional and contested names before "World Wide Web" became a stable designation.
- Naming facilitated project communication, organizational recognition, and external legitimacy.
- Attempts at standardization revealed institutional limits in controlling emergent digital technologies.
Conclusions:
- Naming is a crucial, enabling practice in technological development, not merely a representational act.
- The visibility, legitimacy, and stability of technologies are shaped by naming processes.
- Understanding naming as a material and organizational process offers new perspectives on technology history.
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