Ben Shneiderman, 2008

"The internet is providing access to vast amounts of data about human behavior that Shneiderman argues provide the opportunity to study our interactions with the rigor seen in the natural sciences. He points to the success of design testing by prominent websites like Facebook and sees a future where scientist-designers move quickly from basic to applied research."

""But the Internet is changing both the methods we use and the things we need to study. The challenge for the next 400 years is to understand how trust and empathy work.""

Shneiderman's 's editorial for 'Science' titled, "Science 2.0," is behind a paywall. Read Mardigal's 2008 summary at Wired instead: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/03/the-internet-is/