cyberbole

English

Etymology

Coined by Steve Woolgar as blend of cyber +‎ hyperbole in Technology, Cyberbole, Reality (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2002).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /saɪˈbɜːbəli/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /saɪˈbɝbəli/

Noun

cyberbole (uncountable)

1. Exaggerated claims about what the internet and information technology will accomplish.
   • 2004, Geert Lovink, Uncanny Networks: Dialogues with the Virtual Intelligentsia, →ISBN, page 1742:

     The first step toward finding a way out of this place begins when we take a flamethrower to Newt Gingrich cum Alvin Toffler style laissez-faire futurism, which entrusts our collective fate to the tender mercies of the marketplace, or New Age cyberbole that would have us pin our hopes to a millennial blastoff.

   • 2005, Zaheer Baber, CyberAsia: The Internet And Society in Asia, →ISBN, page 57:

     Regardless of whether one is wired or not, it is impossible to avoid the hype or cyberbole surrounding the Internet.

   • 2013, K. Orton-Johnson, N. Prior, Digital Sociology: Critical Perspectives, →ISBN, page 1:

     While some might claim that we can now declare the end of the 'cyberbole' (Woolgar, 2002), the aim of this collection is not to recap or evaluate these literatures and debates.