Over one billion people use the Internet globally. Psychologists are beginning to understand what people do online, and the impact being online has on behaviour. It's making us re-think many of our existing assumptions about what it means to be a social being. For instance, if we can talk,flirt, meet people and fall in love online, this challenges many of psychology's theories that intimacy or understanding requires physical co-presence. "The Oxford Handbook of Internet Psychology" brings together many of the leading researchers in what can be termed 'Internet Psychology'. Though a very new area of research, it is growing at a phenomenal pace. In addition to well-studied areas of investigation, such as social identity theory,computer-mediated communication and virtual communities, the volume also includes chapters on topics as diverse as deception and misrepresentation, attitude change and persuasion online, Internet addiction, online relationships, privacy and trust, health and leisure use of the Internet, and thenature of interactivity. With over 30 chapters written by experts in the field, the range and depth of coverage is unequalled, and serves to define this emerging area of research. Uniquely, this content is supported by an entire section covering the use of the Internet as a research tool, including qualitative andquantitative methods, online survey design, personality testing, ethics, and technological and design issues. While it is likely to be a popular research resource to be 'dipped into', as a whole volume it is coherent and compelling enough to act as a single text book. "The Oxford Handbook of Internet Psychology" is the definitive text on this burgeoning field. It will be an essential resource for anyone interested in the psychological aspects of Internet use, or planning to conduct research using the 'net'.

Adam Joinson is Senior Lecturer in Information Systems at the University of Bath School of Management
His research interests include computer-mediated communication, e-social science, privacy and disinhibition online. He is the author of 'Understanding the Psychology of Internet Behavior' (2003, Palgrave), 'Truth, Lies and Trust on the Internet' (with Monica Whitty, Psychology Press, 2007), and has published over 50 journal articles, book chapters and conference proceedings in the field.
Katelyn Y. A. McKenna (Yael Kaynan) is a Senior Lecturer at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and at The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in the Department of Communication. Her research interests are in the areas of relationship cognition, the self, and social identity, particularly in terms of their applicability to Internet interactions.
Tom Postmes (PhD, Amsterdam, 1997; MSc, Amsterdam, 1992) is Professor of Communication and Social Psychology at the University of Exeter. His research interests are group processes and communication, focusing in particular on the topics of social influence, the formation of group norms, collective action, intergroup conflict, perceptions of discrimination and oppression. In his research, he has studied online groups and social effects of Computer-Mediated Communication. His work has been published in over 40 journal articles, more than a dozen book chapters and several other publications. His academic achievements received recognition through the award of research fellowships by the Economic and Social Research Council (2003-2006) and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (1998-2002). From 2001 to 2003 he was associate editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology.
Ulf-Dietrich Reips is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland. He received his venia legendi for Psychology in the Faculty for the Science of Information and Cognition at the University of Tubingen, Germany, in 2004, where he also was awarded a Ph.D. in 1997. He holds a M.A. in Psychology from Sonoma State University, USA. Reips' research interests include methods, tools, and techniques of Internet-based research, in particular Internet-based experimenting, e-/i-learning and -teaching, online privacy and self-disclosure, Internet-based data mining and log file analysis, cognition, social psychology, e-health. Reips is founding editor of the International Journal of Internet Science . He has published in both English and German and serves the important role of bridging new findings in Internet-based research between the literatures in these two languages.