The information network created by Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 1990 to connect people to knowledge has become an important place to navigate who and what we know, as well as who we think we are. But how much of a revolution is it? This lecture will trace some of the most important developments in social uses of information technologies in order to ultimately argue that the Web does offer unprecedented opportunities to access information and galvanise communities of practice, but that the impact of this new medium will reflect an evolution rather than a revolution of communication practices.