Scientific American has published an article authored by Nigel Shadbolt and Tim Berners-Lee in the October 2008 issue. Here is an interesting excerpt:
Sociology is another field to tap [within Web science]. Research is needed, for instance, to provide Web users with better ways of determining whether material on a site can be trusted. How can we determine whether we can trust the material emanating from a site? The Web was originally conceived as a tool for researchers who trusted one another implicitly; strong models of security were not built in. We have been living with the consequences ever since.
As a result, substantial research should be devoted to engineering layers of trust and provenance into Web interactions. The coming together of our digital and physical personas presents opportunities for progress, such as the integration of financial, medical, social and educational services for each of us. But it is also an opportunity for identity theft, cyberstalking and cyberbullying, and digital espionage. Web science can help enhance the good and ameliorate the bad.
Emphasis added. For an online copy of the article, go to Web Science Emerges.