Listening to, Watching, Living and, Ultimately, Learning History. On and off the Web

This essay presents a series of considerations on how history in general and contemporary history in particular is used by Web customers, and on the growing distance between how history is absorbed by the general public and by students in relation to how it is taught. Some examples are taken from podcasts, theme park websites, personal websites, multi-user games, Second Life and other multi-user virtual environments. The conclusion contains some remarks on the growing use of history by Web users in relation to the shortage of “qualified” historians in Digital Humanities.