Chapter 1
THE NET AND NETIZENS:
The Impact the Net has on People's Lives
By Michael Hauben
hauben@columbia.edu
PREFACE
Welcome to the 21st Century. You are a Netizen (a Net Citizen),
and you exist as a citizen of the world thanks to the global
connectivity that the Net makes possible. You consider everyone as
your compatriot. You physically live in one country but you are
in contact with much of the world via the global computer
network. Virtually you live next door to every other single
Netizen in the world. Geographical separation is replaced by
existence in the same virtual space.
The situation I describe is only a prediction of the future,
but a large part of the necessary infrastructure currently
exists. The Net - or the Internet, BITNET, FIDOnet, other
physical networks, Usenet, VMSnet, and other logical networks and
so on - has rapidly grown to cover all of the developed countries
in the world.(1) Everyday more computers attach to the existing
networks and every new computer adds to the user base - at least
twenty seven million people are interconnected today.
We are seeing a revitalization of society. The frameworks are
being redesigned from the bottom up. A new more democratic world
is becoming possible. As one user observed, the Net has
"immeasurably increased the quality of ... life." The Net seems to
open a new lease on life for people. Social connections which
never before were possible, or relatively hard to achieve, are
now facilitated by the Net. Geography and time are no
longer boundaries. Social limitations and conventions no
longer prevent potential friendships or partnerships. In this
manner Netizens are meeting other Netizens from far-away and
close by that they might never have met without the Net.
A new world of connections between people - either privately from
individual to individual or publicly from individuals to the
collective mass of many on the Net is possible. The old model of
distribution of information from the central Network Broadcasting
Company is being questioned and challenged. The top-down model of
information being distributed by a few for mass-consumption is no
longer the only news. Netnews brings the power of the reporter to the
Netizen. People now have the ability to broadcast their observations
or questions around the world and have other people respond. The
computer networks form a new grassroots connection that allows the
excluded sections of society to have a voice. This new medium is
unprecedented. Previous grassroots media have existed for much
smaller-sized selections of people. The model of the Net proves the
old way does not have to be the only way of networking. The Net
extends the idea of networking - of making connections with strangers
that prove to be advantageous to one or both parties.
The complete connection of the body of citizens of the world that
the Net makes possible does not yet exist, and it will be a struggle to
make access to the Net open and available to all. However, in the future
we might be seeing the possible expansion of what it means to be a social
animal. Practically every single individual on the Net today is available
to every other person on the Net. International connection coexists on
the same level with local connection. Also the computer networks allow a
more advanced connection between the people who are communicating. With
computer-communication systems, information or thoughts are connected to
people's names and electronic-mail addresses. On the Net, one can connect
to others who have similar interests or whose thought processes they
enjoy.
Netizens make it a point to be helpful and friendly - if they
feel it to be worthwhile. Many Netizens feel they have an
obligation to be helpful and answer queries and followup on
discussions to put their opinion into the pot of opinions. Over a
period of time the voluntary contributions to the Net have built
it into a useful connection to other people around the world.
When I posted the question, "Is the Net a Source of Social/Economic
Wealth?" many people responded. Several corrected my calling the net
a source of accurate information. They pointed out that it
was also a source of opinions. However, the reader can train
himself to figure out the accurate information from the breadth
of opinions. Presented here is an example of the broadness of views and
opinion which I was able to gather from my research on the Net.
The Net can be a helpful medium to understand the world. Only
by seeing all points of view can anyone attempt to figure out
his or her position on a topic.
Net society differs from off-line society by welcoming
intellectual activity. People are encouraged to have things on their
mind and to present those ideas to the Net. People are allowed to be
intellectually interesting and interested. This intellectual activity
forms a major part of the on-line information that is carried by the
various computer networks. Netizens can interact with other people to
help add to or alter that information. Brainstorming between
varieties of people produces robust thinking. Information is no longer
a fixed commodity or resource on the Nets. It is constantly being
added to and improved collectively. The Net is a grand intellectual
and social commune in the spirit of the collective nature present at
the origins of human society. Netizens working together continually
expand the store of information worldwide. One person called the Net
an untapped resource because it provides an alternative to the normal
channels and ways of doing things. The Net allows for the meeting of
minds to form and develop ideas. It brings people's thinking processes
out of isolation and into the open. Every user of the Net gains the
role of being special and useful. The fact that every user has his or
her own opinions and interests adds to the general body of specialized
knowledge on the Net. Each Netizen thus becomes a special resource
valuable to the Net. Each user contributes to the whole intellectual
and social value and possibilities of the Net.
INTRODUCTION
The world of the Netizen was envisioned more than twenty five
years ago by J.C.R. Licklider. Licklider brought to his leadership of the
Department of Defense's ARPA Information Processing Techniques Office
(IPTO) a vision of "the intergalactic computer network." Whenever he
would speak from ARPA, he would mention this vision. J.C.R. Licklider was
a prophet of the Net. In the paper, "The Computer as a Communication
Device", which Licklider wrote with Robert Taylor, they established
several principles from their observations of how the computer would play
a helpful role in human communication.(2) They clarified their definition
of communication as a creative process differentiating between
communication and the sending and receiving of information. When two tape
recorders send or receive information to each other that is not
communication. They wrote:
"We believe that communicators have to do something non-trivial with
the information they send and receive. And to interact with the richness
of living information -- not merely in the passive way that we have
become accustomed to using books and libraries, but as active
participants in an ongoing process, bringing something to it
through our interaction with it, and not simply receiving from it
by our connection to it. We want to emphasize something beyond its
one-way transfer: the increasing significance of the jointly
constructive, the mutually reinforcing aspect of communication --
the part that transcends `now we both know a fact that only one of
us knew before.' When minds interact, new ideas emerge. We want
to talk about the creative aspect of communication."(3)
Licklider and Taylor defined four principles for computers
to make a contribution towards human communication. They are:
1) Communication is defined as an interactive creative
process.
2) Response times need to be short to make the "conversation"
free and easy.
3) Larger networks would form out of smaller regional
networks.
4) Communities would form out of affinity and common
interests.
Licklider and Taylor's understandings from their 1968
paper have stood the test of time, and do represent the Net today.
In a later paper Licklider co-wrote with Albert Vezza, "Applications
of Information Networks"(4), they explore the possible business
applications of information networks. Licklider and Vezza's survey of
business applications in 1978 come short of the possibilities Licklider and
Taylor outlined in their 1968 paper, and represent but a tiny fraction
of the resources the Net currently embodies.
In the 1968 paper, Licklider and Taylor focused on the Net
being comprised of a network of networks. While other researchers
of the time focused on the sharing of computing resources,
Licklider and Taylor kept an open mind and wrote:
"The collection of people, hardware, and software -- the
multi-access computer together with its local community of users --
will become a node in a geographically distributed computer
network. Let us assume for a moment that such a network has been
formed. Through the network of message processors, therefore, all
the large computers can communicate with one another. And through
them, all the members of the super community can communicate -- with
other people, with programs, with data, or with a selected
combinations of those resources."(5)
Their concept of the sharing of both computing and human
resources together matches the modern Net. The networking of
various human connections quickly forms, changes its goals,
disbands and reforms into new collaborations. The fluidity of such
group dynamics leads to a quickening of the creation of new ideas.
Groups can form to discuss an idea, focus in or broaden out and
reform to fit the new ideas that have been worked out.
Netnews, IRC, mailing lists and mud/mush/moo/m** (various
of the available discussion tools on the Net) are extremely dynamic.
Most can be formed immediately for either short or long term use.
As interests or events form, discussion groups can be created. (e.g.,
The mailing list 9NOV89-L about Germany after the fall of the Berlin
Wall in November, 1989, and about German unification.)
The virtual space created on noncommercial computer networks is
accessible universally. The content on commercial networks, like
Compuserve or America On-Line, is only accessible by those who pay to
belong to that particular network. The space on noncommercial networks
is accessible from the connections that exist, whereas social networks
in the physical world generally are connected by limited gateways. So
the capability of networking on computer nets overcomes limitations
inherent in noncomputer social networks. This is important because it
reduces the problems of population growth. Population growth need not
mean limited resources any more -- rather that very growth of
population now means an improvement of resources. Thus growth of
population can be seen as a positive asset. This is a new way of
looking at people in our society. Every new person can mean a
new set of perspectives and specialties to add to the wealth of
knowledge of the world. This new view of people could help improve the
view of the future. The old model looks down on population growth and
people as a strain on the environment rather than the increase of
intellectual contribution these individuals can make. However, access
to the Net needs to be universal for the Net to fully utilize the
contribution each person can represent. As long as access is limited --
the Net and those on the Net, lose the full advantages the Net can
offer. Lastly the people on the Net need to be active in order to
bring about the best possible use of the Net.
Licklider foresaw that the Net allows for people of common
interests, who are otherwise strangers, to communicate. Much of
the magic of the Net is the ability to make a contribution of your
ideas, and then be connected to utter strangers. He saw that people
would connect to others via this Net in ways that had been much
harder in the past. Licklider observed as the ARPAnet spanned two
continents. This physical connection allowed for wider social
collaborations to form. This was the beginning of computer data
networks facilitating connections of people around the world.
My research on and about the Net was very exciting for me.
When posting inquiries, I usually received the first reply within
a couple of hours. The feeling of receiving that very first reply from
a total stranger is always exhilerating! That set of first replies from
people reminds me of the magic of e-Mail. It is nice that there can
be reminders of how exciting this new form of communication really is
-- so that the value of this new use of computers is never forgotten.
___________________________________________
CRITICAL MASS
The Net has grown so much in the since its birth in the 1960's that
a critical mass of people and interests has been reached. This collection
of individuals adds to the interests and specialties of the whole
community. Most people can now gain something from the Net, while at the
same time helping it out. There are enough people on-line now, that
anyone coming on-line will find something of interest. People are meshing
intellects and knowledge to form new ideas. Larry Press made this clear
by writing,
"I now work on the Net at least 2 hours per day. I've had an
account since around 1975 but it has only become super important
in the last couple of years because a critical mass of membership
was reached. I no longer work in LA, but in cyberspace."
While the original users of the Net were from exclusively technical
and scientific communities, many of them found it a valuable experience
to explore the Net for more than just technical reasons. Today, many
different kinds of people are connected to the Net. The original users of
the Net (then several test-beds of network research) were from only a few
parts of the world. Now people of all ages, from most parts of the globe,
and of many professions, make up the Net. The original prototype networks
(e.g., ARPAnet in the USA, the network of the National Physical
Laboratory in the United Kingdom, CYCLADES in France and other networks
around the world) developed the necessary physical infrastructure for a
fertile social network to develop. Einar Stefferud wrote of this social
connection in an article,
"The ARPAnet has produced several monumental results.
First, it provided the physical and electrical communications
backbone for development of the latent social infrastructure we now
call `THE INTERNET COMMUNITY.'"(6)
Many different kinds of people comprise the Net. The university
community sponsors access for a broad range of people (i.e., students,
professors, staff, professor emeritus, etc.). Many businesses are also
connected. A `K-12 Net' exists which invites younger people to be a part
of the online community. Special bulletin board software exists to
connect personal computer users to the Net. Various Unix bulletin board
systems exist to connect other users. It is virtually impossible to tell
what kinds of people connect to public bulletin board systems, as only a
computer (or terminal) and modem are the prerequisites to connect. Many
if not all Fidonet BBS's (a very common BBS type) have at least e-mail
and many also participate through a gateway to Netnews. Prototype
community network systems are forming around the world (e.g., Cleveland
Free-Net, Wellington Citynet, Santa Monica Public Electronic Network
(PEN), Berkeley Community Memory Project, Hawaii FYI, National Capitol
Free-Net and others in Canada, etc.). Access via these community systems
can be as easy as visiting the community library and membership is open
to all who live in the community.
In addition to the living body of resources this diversity of
Netizens represents, there is also a continual growing body of
digitized data that forms another body of resources. Whether it is
Netizens digitizing great literature of the past (e.g., the Gutenberg
Project, Project Bartleby), or it is people gathering otherwise
obscure or non-mainstream material (e.g., various religions, unusual
hobbies, gay lifestyle, fringe.), or if it is Netizens contributing
new and original material, the Net follows in the great tradition of
other public institutions, such as the public library or the principle
behind public education. The Net shares with these institutions that
they serve the general populace. This data is just part of the treasure.
Often living Netizens provide pointers to this digitized store of publicly
available information. Many of the network access tools have been
created with the principle of being available to everyone. The best
example is the method of connecting to file repositories via FTP (file
transfer protocol) by logging in as an "anonymous" user. Most, if not
all, World Wide Web Sites, Wide Area Information Systems (WAIS), and
gopher sites are open for all users of the Net. It is true that the
Net Community is smaller than it will be, but the Net has reached a
point of general usefulness no matter who you are.
All of this evidence is exactly why it is a problem for
the Net to come under the control of commercial entities. Once
commercial interests gain control, the Net will be much less powerful
for the ordinary person than it is currently. Commercial interests
vary from those of the common person. They attempt to make profit from
any available means. Compuserve is an example of one current
commercial network. A user of Compuserve pays for access by the
hour. If this scenario would be extended to the Net of which I speak,
the Netiquette of being helpful would have a price tag attached to
it. If people had had to pay by the minute during the Net's
development, very few would have been able to afford the network time
needed to be helpful to others.
The Net has only developed because of the hard work and
voluntary dedication of many people. It has grown because the Net
is in the control and power of the people at the grassroots level, and
because these people developed it. People's posts and contributions
to the Net have been the developing forces.
____________________________________________
GRASSROOTS
The Net brings people together. People put into connection with
other people can be powerful. There is power in numbers. The Net
allows an individual to realize his power. The Net, uncontrolled by
commercial entities, becomes the gathering, discussion and planning
center for many people.
The combined efforts of people interested in communication has
led to the development and expansion of the global communications
system. What's on the Net? Well -- Usenet, Free-Net, e-mail, library
catalogs, ftp sites, free software, electronic newsletters and
journals, Multi-User Domain/Dungeon (mud)/mush/moo, Internet Relay
Chat (IRC), the multimedia world wide web (WWW) and many kinds of data
banks. Different servers, like WWW, WAIS, and gophers attempt to order
and make utilizing the vast varieties and widespread information
easier. There exist both public and private services and sources of
information. The public and free services often come about through the
voluntary efforts of one or a few people. These technologies allow a
person to help make the world a better place by making his or her
unique contribution available to the rest of the world. People who
have been overlooked or have felt unable to contribute to the world,
now can. Also, these networks allow much more open and public
interaction over a much larger body of people than available
before. The common people have a unique voice -- which is now being
aired in a new way.
The emphasis is that this new machine introduces every single
person as someone special and in possession of a useful resource.
NETIZEN COMMENTS ON GRASSROOTS:
"Simple -- by access to a vast amount of information and an
enormous number of brains!" Brian May
"For a geographically sparse group as it is, MU* allows
people to get to know one another, the relevant newsgroup gives
a sense that there's a community out there and things are happening,
and an associated ftp site allows art and writing to be distributed."
Simon Raboczi
"In summary, nets have helped enormously in the dissemination of
information from people knowledgeable in certain areas which would be
difficult to obtain otherwise." Brent Edwards
"I get to communicate rapidly and cheaply with zillions of
people around the world." Rosemary Warren
The following examples help to show how this is possible.
People are normally unprotected from the profit desires of
large companies. Steven Alexander from California was using the Net
to try to prevent over charging at gas stations. This is an example of
the power of connecting people to uphold what is fair and in the best
interest of the common person in this society.
From: Steven Alexander
"I have started compiling and distributing (on the newsgroup
ca.driving) a list of gas prices at particular stations in California to
which many people will contribute and keep up to date, and which,
I hope, will allow consumers to counteract what many of us suspect
is the collusive (or in any case, price-gouging) behavior of the oil
companies."
A user from Germany also reported using the Net to muckrake. He
writes:
"A company said they were a [nonprofit organization].
Someone looked them up in the [nonprofit] Register, and they did not
exist there. Someone else said that he had contact with the person who
sent the letter, only under another company-name, and that he simply
ignored this person since he looked like a swindler. So they are
swindlers, and people from the Net proved it to us, we then of course
did not engage with them at all."
The Net has proven its importance in other contemporary critical
situations. As the only available line of communications with the rest
of the world, the Net helped defeat the attempted coup in the ex-Soviet
Union in 1990. The members of the coup either did not know about or
understand the role the Russian RELCOM network could play or the connections
proved resilient enough for information about the coup to be
communicated inside and out of the country in time to inform the world
and encourage resistance to the coup.(7)
The Net has also proven its value by providing an important medium
for students. Students participating in the Chinese Pro-Democracy
movement have kept in touch with others around the world via their
fragile connection to the Net. The Net provided an easy way of evading
government censors to get news around the world about events in China
and to receive back encouraging feedback. Such feedback is vital support
to keep the fight on when it seems impossible or wrong to do so.
In a similar way, students in France used the French Minitel system to
organize a successful fight against plans by the French government to
restrict admission to government subsidized universities.
The information flow on the Net is controlled by those who
use the Net. People actively provide the information that they
personally and other people want. There is a much more active form of
participation than what is provided for by other forms of mass media.
Television, radio, magazines are all driven by those who own and
determine who will write for them. The Net gives people a media they can
control. This control of information is a great power that has not been
available before to the common everyday person. For example, Declan
McCreesh describes how this makes possible access to the most up to date
information.
From: Declan McCreesh
"You get the most up to date info. that people around the
world can get their hands on, which is great. For instance, the media
report who wins a Grand Prix, what happened and not a great deal
more. On the net, however, you can get top speeds, latest car and
technology developments, latest rumors, major debates as to
whether Formula 1 or Indy cars are better etc."
The Net helps to make the information available more accurate
because of the many-to-many or broadcast and read and write
capability. That new capability, which is not normally very prevalent
in our society, allows an actual participant or observer to report
something. This capability gives the power of journalism or the
reporter to the individual. This new medium allows the source to
report. This is true because the medium allows everyone on-line to
make a contribution. The old media instead controls who reports and what
they say. The possibility of eyewitness accounts via the net can make the
information more accurate. Also this opens up the possibility for a
grassroots network. Information is passed from person to person around
the world. Thus German citizens could learn about the Chernobyl explosion
from the Net before the government decided to release the information to the
public via the media. The connection is people to people rather than
governments to governments. Citizen Journalists can now distribute to
more than those they know personally. The distribution of the writings
of ordinary people is the second step after the advent of the
inexpensive personal computer in the early 1980s. The personal
computer and printer allowed anyone to produce mass quantities of
documents. Personal publishing is now joined by wide personal
distribution.
Not only is there grassroots reporting, but the assumption that
filtering is necessary has been challenged. People can learn to sort
through the various opinions themselves. Steve Welch disagreed that the
Net is a source of more accurate information, but agreed that people
develop discriminatory reading skills.
From: Steve Welch:
"When you get more information from diverse sources, you
don't always get more accurate information. However, you do
develop skills in discerning accurate information. Or rather, you
do if you want to come out of the infoglut jungle alive."
Governments that rule based on control of information will succumb
eventually to the tides of democracy. As Dr. Sun Yat-Sen of the Chinese
Democracy Movement once said, "The worldwide democratic trend is mighty.
Those who submit to it will prosper and those who resist it will perish."
The Net reintroduces the basic idea of democracy as the grassroots people
power of Netizens. Governments can no longer easily keep information from
their people.
Many groups which do not have an established form of communications
available to them have found the Net to be a powerful tool. For example,
for people far away from their homeland, the Net provides a new link.
From: Godfrey Nolan
"The Net has immeasurably increased the quality of my life. I am
Irish, but I have been living in England for the past five years. It
is a lot more difficult to get information about Ireland than you
would expect. However a man called Liam Ferrie who works in Digital in
Galway, compiles a newspaper on the weeks events in Ireland and so I
can now easily keep abreast of most developments in Irish current
affairs, which helps me feel like I'm not losing touch when I go home
about twice a year. It is also transmitted to about 2000 Irish people
all over the first and third worlds."
From: Madhur K. Limdi
"I read your above posting and wanted to share my experience
with you. I have been a frequent reader of news in Usenet groups,
such as soc.culture.indian, misc.news.southasia. Both of these
keep me reasonably informed about the happenings in my home
country India."
Also in the United States, the Net has provide stable communications
for people of various religious and sexual persuasions. Many other
communities have also found the Net to be a excellent medium to help
increase communications:
From: Gregory G. Woodbury
"We will be going to a march on Washington and are
coordinating our plans and travel with a large number of other folks
around the country via e-mail and conversations on Usenet."
From: Jann VanOver
"I'm a member of a Buddhist organization and just found a
man in Berkeley who keeps a Mailing List that sends daily guidance
and discussions for this group. So I get a little religious boost when
I log on each day."
From: Carole E. Mah
"For me and for many of my friends, the Net is our main form of
communication. Almost every aspect of interpersonal communication on the
network has a gay/lesbian/bi aspect to it that forms a tight and intimate
acquaintanceship which sometimes even boils over into arguments and
enmities. This network of connections, friends, enemies, lovers, etc.
facilitates political goals that would not otherwise be possible
(organizing letter-writing campaigns about the Gays in the Military Ban
via the ACT-UP list, being able to send e-mail directly to the White
House, finding out about activism, bashing, etc. in other states and
around the world, etc)."
From: Robert Dean
"As a member of the science fiction community, I've met quite
a few people on the net, and then in person."
____________________________________________
COMMUNICATION WITH NEW PEOPLE
In many Netizens' lives the Net has alleviated feelings of
loneliness, which seem common in today's society. The Net's ability
to help people network both socially and intellectually makes the Net
valuable and irreplaceable in people's lives. This is forming a group
of people who want to keep the Net accessible and open to all.
The Net brings together people from diverse walks of life, and
makes it easier for these people to communicate. It brings them all
together into the same virtual space and removes the impact or
influence of first impressions.
Malcolm Humes writes, "I'm in awe of the power and energy
linking thousands into a virtual intellectual coffee-house, where
strangers can connect without the formalities of face to face rituals
(hello, how are you today ) to allow a direct-connect style of
communication that seems to transcend the `how's the weather' kind
of conversation to just let us connect without the bullshit."
Strangers are no longer strange on the Net. People are free
to communicate without limits, fears or apprehension. It used to be
that there was a rather generous atmosphere that thrived on the Net
and that welcomed new users. People were happy to help others, often as
a return for the help they had received. Things have changed, and the
general welcome to new-comers is not as universally friendly, but there
are many on-line who still try and help new people. Others are nasty,
but the goodwill still overpowers the unfriendly comments.
From: Jean-Francois Messier
"My use of the Net is to get in touch with more people around
the world. I don't know for what, when, how, but that's important
for me. Not that I'm in a small town, far from everybody, but that
I want to be able to establish links with others. In fact, because of
those nets I use, I would !NOT! want to go to a small town, just
because the phone calls would be too expensive. I've to say that I'm
not an expressive people. I'm not a great talker, nor somebody who
could make shows. I'm more an `introvert'."
Yet Jean-Francois wrote me. This is just one example of the
social power of the Net. Another Netizen comments on how the Net helped
her befriend strangers.
From: Laura Goodin
"Last summer I was traveling to Denver and I used a listserv
mailing list to find out whether a particular running group I run with
had a branch there. They did, and I had a wonderful time meeting
people with a common interest (and drinking beer with them); I was
no longer a stranger."
____________________________________________
BROADENED AND WORLDLY PROSPECTIVE:
Easy connection to people and ideas from around the world has a
powerful effect. Awareness that we are members of the human species
which spans the entire globe changes a person's point of view. It is a
broadening perspective. It is very easy for people to assume a limited
point of view if they are only exposed to certain ideas. The Net
brings the isolated individual into contact with other people,
experiences, and views from the rest of the world. Exposure to many
opinions gives the reader a chance to actually consider multiple views
before settling on a specific opinion. Having access to the
"Marketplace of Ideas" allows a person to make a reasoned judgment.
For example, from: Jean-Francois Messier
"My attitudes to other peoples, races and religions
changed, since I had more chances to talk with other peoples around
the world. When first exchanging mail with people from
Yellowknife, Yukon, I had a real strange feeling: Getting messages
and chatting with people that far from me. I noticed around me that
a lot of people have opinions and positions about politics that are
for themselves, without knowing others."
He continues:
"Because I have a much broader view of the world now, I
changed and am more conciliatory and peaceful with other people.
Writing to someone you never saw, changes the way you write,
also, the instancy of the transmission makes the conversation much
more `live' than waiting for the damn slow paper
mail. Telecommunications opened the world to me and changed my visions
of people and countries."
From: Anthony Berno
"I could not begin to tell you how different my life would be
without the Net. My life would be short about a dozen people, some
of them central, I would be wallowing in ignorance on several
significant subjects, and my mind would be lacking many
broadening and enlightening influences."
From: Henry Choy
"More things to look at. Increased perspective on life. The
computer network brings people closer together, and permits them
to speak at will to a large audience. I recommend that the
telecommunications and computer industry make large scale
computer networking accessible to the general public. It's like mak-
ing places accessible to the handicapped. People brought closer
together will release some existing social tensions. People need to
be heard, and they need to hear."
From: Paul Ready
"You don't have to go to another country to meet people from
there. It is not the same as personally knowing them, but I always
pay special attention to information from people outside the States.
They are likely to have a different perspective on things."
From: Leandra Dean
"I love to study people, and the Net has been the best possible
resource to this end. The Net is truly a window to the world, and
without it we could only hope to physically meet virtually
thousands of people every day to gain the same insights. I shudder
to think about how different and closed in my life would be without
the Net."
____________________________________________
MATERIAL CHANGES TO PEOPLE'S LIVES AND LIFESTYLES.
The time spent on-line can affect the rest of a person's life. The
connections, interfaces or collaborations between times on and off line
form an interesting area of study. Netizens attest to the power of the
Net by explaining the effect the Net has had on their lives. Because
of the information available and the new connections possible, people
have changed the way they live their lives. There are examples of both
changes in the material possessions and changes in lifestyle. The changes
in lifestyle are probably the more profound changes, but the new
connections made possible are important. Often the material gains are
not financial. Rather worthwhile goods can be redistributed from those
to whom the goods might have lost personal value to those who would
value the goods.
NETIZEN COMMENTS ON MATERIAL CHANGES:
From: William Carroll
"Primarily because of the information and support from
rec.bikes, three years ago I gave up driving to work and started
riding my bike. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made."
A Response I received via e-Mail:
"When I started using ForumNet (a chat program similar to
irc, but smaller -- [Now called icb]) back in January 1990, I was
fairly shy and insecure. I had a few close friends but was slow at
making new ones. Within a few weeks, on ForumNet, I found
myself able to be open, articulate, and well-liked in this virtual
environment. Soon, this discovery began to affect my behavior in
"real" face-to-face interaction. I met some of my computer friends
in person and they made me feel so good about myself, like I really
could be myself and converse and be liked and wanted."
"Of course, computer-mediated social interaction is not
properly a crutch to substitute for face-to-face encounters, but the
ability to converse via keyboard and modem with real people at the
other end of the line has translated into the real-life ability for me
to reach out to people without the mediating use of a computer. My
life has improved. I wouldn't trade my experience with the Net for
anything."
From: Jack Frisch
"I must begin my comments on the Internet with one simple
yet significant statement: the availability and use of the Internet is
changing my life profoundly."
From: Carole E. Mah
"I also used to facilitate a vegetarian list, which radically
altered many people's lives, offering them access to mail-order
foods, recipes, and friendship via net-contact with people who live
in areas where non-meat alternatives are readily available."
From: Jann VanOver
"Well, the first thing I thought of is purchases I've made
through the Net which have "changed my life" I drove my Subaru
Station wagon until last fall when I acquired a VW Camper van that
I saw on a local Net ad. I wasn't looking for a van, wasn't even
shopping for another vehicle, but the second time this ad scrolled
by me, I looked into it and eventually bought it. I will certainly say
that driving a 23 year old VW camper van has changed my life! I
thought I would be ridiculed, but have found that people have a lot
of respect and admiration for this car!"
Jann goes on to write
"Through the Net, I heard that Roger Waters was going to
perform "The Wall" again, an event I had promised myself not to
miss, so I made a trip to Berlin (East and West) in 1990 to see this
concert. This was CERTAINLY a life changing event, seeing Berlin
less than one week after the roads were open with no checkpoints
required. I don't think I would have known about it soon enough
if not for the Net."
From: Robert Dean
"As for me, my main hobby is and was playing wargames and
role-playing games. Net access has allowed me to discuss these games
with players across the world, picking up new ideas, and gathering
opinions on new games before spending money on them. In addition,
I've been able to buy and sell games via Net connections, allowing me
to adjust my collection of games to meet my current interests, and get
games that I no longer wanted to people who do want them, whether they
live down the road from me in Maryland, or in Canada, Austria,
Finland, Germany or Israel. I have also taken an Esperanto course via
e-mail, and correspond irregularly in Esperanto with interested
parties world wide."
From: Caryn K. Roberts
"Usenet & Internet are available to me at work and by dialup
connection to work from home. I have been materially enriched by the
use of the Net. I have managed to sell items I no longer needed. I
have been able to purchase items from others for good prices. I have
saved money and am doing my part to recycle technology instead of
adding burdens to the municipal waste disposal service."
Caryn continues:
"Using the Net I have also been enriched by discussions and
information found in numerous newsgroups from sci.med to
sci.skeptic to many of the comp.* groups. I have offered advice to
solve problems and have been able to solve problems I had by using
information in these forums."
____________________________________________
THE NET AS A SOURCE OF ENORMOUS RESOURCES
Before the Net was widely seen as an enormous social network,
some were experimenting with the sharing of computing resources. The
following are some examples of ways Netizens utilize the information
resources available on the Net.
From: Tim North
"I'm faculty here at University and I use the Net as a major
source of technical information for my lectures, up-to-date product
information, and informed opinion. As such I find that I am constantly
better informed than the people around me. (That sounds vain, but it's
not meant to be. It's simply meant to emphasize how strongly I feel
that the Net is a superb information resource.)"
From: R.J. White
"I used the Net to find parts for my 1971 Opel GT. I was
living in North America at the time, and going through the normal
channels, like GM, are no good. The Net was like an untapped
resource."
From: John Harper
"[My] uses of the network [1] I once asked a question about an
obscure point in history of math. on the sci.math newsgroup and got a
useful answer from Exeter, UK. Beforehand I had no idea where anyone
knowing the answer might be. I had drawn a blank in Oxford. [2] I
asked a question about a slightly less obscure point on
comp.lang.fortran which generated a long (and helpful) discussion on
the Net for a week or two."
From: Paul Ready
"Yes, it is a worldwide rapid distribution center of information,
on topics both popular and obscure. It may not make the information
more valuable, but it certainly increases the information, and the
propagation of information. To those connected, it is a valuable
resource. Flame wars aside, a lot of generally inaccessible
information is readily available."
From: Lee Rothstein
"Usenet and mailing lists create a group of people who are
motivated and capable of talking about a specific topic. The software
allows deeply contextual conversations to occur with a minimum of
rehash. As experience develops with the medium, each user realizes
that the other that he talks to or will talk to generally help
him/her, and can do him/her no harm because of the remoteness imposed
by the cable."
From: Lu Ann Johnson
"Hi! Usenet came to my rescue -- I'm a librarian and was
working with a group of students on a marketing project. They were
marketing a make-believe product -- a compact disc of "music hits
of the 70's". They needed a source to tell them how much it cost
to produce a CD -- without mastering, etc. I exhausted all my print
resources so I posted the question in a business newsgroup. Within
hours I learned from several companies that it cost about $1.50 to
produce a CD :) The students were very grateful to get the information."
From: Laura Goodin
"I teach self-defense, and in rec.martial-art someone posted
information about a study on the effectiveness of Mace for
self-defense that I had been looking for for years."
From: Cliff Roberts
"I have been using Internet through a program in New Jersey to
bring the fields of Science and Math to grammar school children grades
K-8. We have implemented a system where the class rooms are equipped
with PC's and are able to dial in to a UNIX system. There they can
send e-mail and post questions to a KidsQuest ID. The ID then routes
the questions to volunteers with accounts on UNIX. The scientists then
answer or give advice of where to find the information they
want. Another well accepted feature is to list out the soc.penpals
list and e-mail people in different countries that are being studied
in the schools."
From: Joe Farrenkopf
"I think Usenet is a very interesting thing. For me, it's mostly
just a way to pass time when bored. However, I have
gotten some very useful things from it. There is one group in
particular called comp.lang.fortran, and on several occasions when
I've had a problem writing a program, I was able to post to this
group to get some help to find out what I was doing wrong. In these
cases, it was an invaluable resource."
____________________________________________
COLLECTIVE WORK
As new connections are made between people more ideas
travel over greater distances. This allows either like-minded people
or complementary people to come in touch with each other. The
varied resources of the networks allow these same people to keep
in touch even if they would not have been able to be in touch before.
Electronic mail allows enough detail to be contained in a message
that most if not all communications can take place entirely
electronically. This medium allows for new forms of collaborative
work to form and thrive. New forms of research will probably arise
from such possibilities. Here are some examples:
From: Wayne Hathaway
"One `unusual' use I made of the Net happened in 1977. Along with
five other `Net Folks' I wrote the following paper: `The ARPAnet
TELNET Protocol: Its Purpose, Principles, Implementation, and Impact
on Host Operating System Design,' with Davidson, Postel, Mimno,
Thomas, and Walden: Fifth Data Communications Symposium, Snowbird, UT;
September 27-29, 1977. What's so unusual about a collaborative paper,
you ask? Simply that the six of us never even made a TELEPHONE call
about the paper, much less had a meeting or anything. Literally
EVERYTHING -- from the first ideas in a `broadcast' mail to the
distribution of the final `troff-ready' version -- was done with
e-mail. These days this might not be such a deal, but it was
interesting back then."
From: Paul Gillingwater
"...in Vienna was an on-line computer mediated art forum, with
video conferencing between two cities, plus an on-line discussion in a
virtual MUD-type conference later that evening."
A Response I received via e-mail:
"In response to your question about having fun on the net, and
being creative, one incident comes to mind. I had met a woman on
ForumNet (a system like IRC). She and I talked and talked about
all sorts of things. One night, we felt especially artistic. We
co-wrote a poem over the computer. I'd type a few words, she'd
pick up where I left off (in the middle of sentences or wherever)
and on and on. I don't think we had any idea what it was going to
be in the end, thematically or structurally. In the end, we had a very
good poem, one that I would try to publish if I knew her whereabouts
anymore "
____________________________________________
IMPROVING QUALITY OF EVERYDAY LIFE
Information flow can take various shapes. The strangest and
perhaps most interesting one is how emotion can be attached to
information flow. They often seem like two very different things.
I received a large number of responses that reported real-life
marriages arising from Net meetings. The Net facilitates the meeting
of people of like interests. The newness of the Net means we cannot
fully understand it as of yet. However, it is worth noting that people
have also broken up on-line. So while it is a new social medium, a
range of dynamics will exist.
From: Caryn K. Roberts
"I have found friends on the Net. A lover. And two of the friends
I met, also met online and got married. I attended the wedding (in
California)."
From: Scott Kitchen
"I think I can add something for your paper. I met my fiancee
4 years ago over the net. I was at Ohio State, and she was in
Princeton, and we started talking about an article of hers I'd read
in rec.games.frp. We got to talking, eventually met, found we liked
each other, and the rest is history. We were married 31 December 1994."
From: Gregory G. Woodbury
"I met the woman who became my wife when I started talking
to the folks at "phs" (the third site of the original Usenet) during
the development of Netnews. I would not have been wandering
around that area if I hadn't been interested in the development of
the net."
From: Laura Goodin
"And now, the BEST story: about eight months ago I was
browsing soc.culture.australia and I noticed a message from an
Australian composer studying in the US about an alternative tune
to "Waltzing Matilda." I was curious, so I responded in e-mail,
requesting the tune and just sort of shooting the breeze. We began
an e-mail correspondence that soon incorporated voice calls as well.
One thing led inexorably to another and we fell in love (before we
met face to face, actually). We did eventually meet face to face.
Last month he proposed over the Internet (in soc.culture.australia)
and I accepted. Congratulatory messages came in from all over the
United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Houston (that's his
name) and I keep our phone bills from resembling the national debt
by sending 10 or 12 e-mails a day (we're well over 1400 for eight
months now), and chatting using IRC. A long-distance relationship
is hellish, but the pain is eased somewhat by the Internet."
From: Chuq Von Rospach
"(oh, and in the "how the Net made my non-net life better"
category, I met my wife via the net. Does that count?)"
____________________________________________
WORK
The fluid connections and the rapidly changing nature of the
networks make the Net a welcome media for those who are job hunting and
for those who have jobs to offer. The networks have a large turnover of
people who are looking for jobs. The placement of job annoucements is easy
and can be kept available for as long as the job is offered. E-mail
allows for the quick and easy applications by sending resumes in the
e-mail. Companies can respond quickly and easy to such submissions,
also by e-mail.
Besides finding work, the Net helps people who are currently
working perform their job in the best manner. Many people utilize
the Net to assist them with their jobs. Several examples of both
follow:
From: Laura Goodin
"My division successfully recruited a highly-qualified consultant
(a Finn living in Tasmania) to do some work for us; the initial
announcement was over Usenet; subsequent negotiations were through
e-mail."
From: jj
"I've hired people off the net, and from meeting them in muds,
when I find somebody who can THINK. People who can think are
hard to find anywhere."
From: Diana Gregory
"I have learned to use UNIX, and as a result may be able to
keep/advance in my job due to the 'net."
From: Neil Galarneau
"It helps me do my job (MS Windows programming) and it
helps me learn new things (like C++)."
From: Kieran Clulow
"The Internet access provided me by the university has greatly
facilitated my ability to both use and program computers and this
has had the direct result of improving my grades as well as gaining
me a good job in the computer field. Long live the Internet (and
make it possible for private citizens to get access!)"
From: Mark Gooley
"I got my job by answering a posting to a news-group."
From: Anthony Berno
"I develop for NEXTSTEP, and the Net is very useful in
getting useful programming hints, info on product releases, rumors,
etcetera."
From: Gregory G. Woodbury
"Due to contacts made via Usenet and e-mail, I got a job as
a consultant at BTL in 1981 after I lost my job at Duke. Part of the
qualifications that got me in the door was experience with Usenet."
____________________________________________
IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS WITH FRIENDS
Another way of improving daily life is by making communications
with friends easier. The ease of sending e-mail is bringing back
letter writing. However, the immediacy of e-mail means less care can be
made in the process of writing. E-mail, IRC and Netnews make it much
easier to keep in touch with friends outside one's local area.
NETIZEN COMMENTS ON IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS:
From: Bill Walker
"I also have an old and dear friend (from high school) who
lives in the San Francisco area. After I moved to San Diego, we
didn't do very well at keeping in touch. She and I talked on the
phone a couple of times a year. After we discovered we were both
on the net, we started corresponding via e-mail, and we now
exchange mail several times a week. So, the Net has allowed me
to keep in much closer touch with a good friend. It's nothing that
couldn't be done by phone, or snail mail, but somehow we never
got around to doing those things. E-mail is quick, easy and fun
enough that we don't put it off."
From: Anthony Berno
"Incidentally, it is also one of my primary modes of
communication with my sister (who lives in N.Z.) It's more meditative
than a phone call, faster than a letter, and cheaper than either of
them."
From: Carole E. Mah
"It also facilitates great friendships. Most of my friends, even in
my own town, I met on the network. This can often alleviate feelings of
loneliness and "I'm the only one, I must be a pervert" feelings among
queer people just coming out of the closet. They have a whole world of
like-minded people to turn to on Usenet, on Bitnet lists, on IRC, in
personal e-mail, on BBSs and AOL type conferences, etc."
From: Jann VanOver
"Apart from purchases, I have been contacted by:
1) a very good friend from college who I'd lost track of. She
got married to a man she met in a singles newsgroup (they've been
married 2 years+)
2) someone who went to my high school, knew a lot of the
same people I did, but we didn't know each other. We are now
`mail buddies'
3) an old girlfriend of my brothers. They went out for eight
years, but I learned more about her from ONE e-mail letter than I
had ever learned when meeting her in person."
From: Godfrey Nolan
"Above all it helps me keep in touch with friends who I would
inevitably lose otherwise. The Net helps those that move around
for economic reasons to lessen the worst aspects of leaving your
friends in the series of places that you once called home. It's the
best thing since sliced bread."
____________________________________________
PROBLEMS
With all of the positive uses and advantages of the Net, it is
still not perfect. The blind-view of people on the Net seems to
shield everyone, but women. There is a relatively large male to
female percentage population on the Net. Women on-line can feel the
effects of this difference. Women who have easily identifiable user
names or IDs are prone to be the center of much attention. While
that might be good in itself, much of that attention can be of a
hostile or negative nature. This attention might be detrimental to
women being active on the Net. Net harassment can spread against
other users too. People with unpopular ideas need to be strong to
withstand the outlash of abuse they might receive from others.
The worst non-people problem seems to be information overflow.
Information adds up very quickly and it can be hard to organize it all
and sort through. This problem should be solvable as technology is now
being developed to handle it.
From: Scott Hatton
"There is a problem with this brave new world in that a lot of
people don't appreciate there's another human being at the other
keyboard. Flaming is a real problem -- especially in comp.misc.
This is all a new facet of the technology as well. People rarely trade
insults in real life like they do on Internet. There's a tendency to
stereotype your opponent into categories. I think this is because
you're not around to witness the results. I find this more on Internet
newsgroups than on CompuServe. I think this is down to maturity
-- a lot of folk on the Internet are students who aren't paying for
their time on the system. Those on CompuServe are normally
slightly older, not so hot-headed and are paying for their time.
Damn. Now I'm at stereotyping now. It just goes to show "
From: Joe Farrenkopf
"There is something else I've discovered that is really rather
fascinating. People can be incredibly rude when communicating
through this medium. For example, some time ago, I posted a
question to lots of different newsgroups, and many people felt my
question was inappropriate to their particular group. They wrote
to me and told me so, using amazingly nasty words. I guess it's
easier to be rude if you don't have to face a person, but can say
whatever you want over a computer."
From: Brad Kepley
"I get a little irritated with people always claiming someone
else is `wasting bandwidth' because they disagree with them. About
half the time it turns out that the person being told to shut up was
right after all. Then again, when you look at things like
alt.binaries.pictures.erotica and other `non-bandwidth-wasting'
activities, it seems almost comical to me when someone says this.
There is nothing more wasteful than 95% of what Usenet is used
for. It's a joke to say that a particular person is `wasting' it. To say
that they are off-topic makes more sense. I guess this is just a gripe
rather than what you are looking for. Wasting bandwidth again. :)"
____________________________________________
CONCLUSION
For the people of the world, the Net provides a powerful means for
peaceful assembly. Peaceful assembly allows for people to take
control over their lives, rather than that control being in the
hands of others. This power deserves to be appreciated and protected. Any
medium or tool that helps people to hold or gain power is something
that is special and has to be protected.
The Net has made a valuable impact on human society. As my research
has demonstrated, people's lives have been substantially improved via
their connection to the Net. This sets the basis for providing access to
all in society. Using similar reasoning, J.C.R. Licklider and Robert
Taylor believed that access to the then growing information network should
be made ubiquitous. They felt that the Net's value would depend on high
connectivity. In their article, "The Computer as a Communication Device",
they argued that the impact upon society depends on how available the
network is to the society as a whole.(8)
Society will improve if Net access is made available to people
as a whole. Only if access is universal will the Net itself advance.
The ubiquitous connection is necessary for the Net to encompass all
possible resources. One Net visionary responded to my research by
calling for universal access. Steve Welch writes: "If we can get to
the point where anyone who gets out of high school alive has used
computers to communicate on the Net or a reasonable facsimile or
successor to it, then we as a society will benefit in ways not
currently understandable. When access to information is as ubiquitous
as access to the phone system, all Hell will break loose. Bet on it."
Steve is right, "all Hell will break loose" in the most
positive of ways imaginable. The philosophers Thomas Paine, Jean
Jacques Rousseau, and all other fighters for democracy would have
been proud.
Similar to past communications advances such as the printing
press, mail, and the telephone, the Global Computer Communications
Network has already fundamentally changed our lives. Licklider
predicted that the Net would fundamentally change the way people live
and work. It is important to try to understand this impact, so as to
help further this advance.
----------------------------
Notes for CHAPTER 1
(1) See the Internet Society NEWS, vol 2 no 1, Spring 1993, inside back
cover for map.
(2) J.C.R. Licklider and Robert W. Taylor, "The Computer as a
Communication Device," reprinted in "In Memoriam: J.C.R. Licklider
1915-1990," Digital Research Center, August 7, 1990; originally
published in Science and Technology, April, 1968.
(3) Ibid., p. 32.
(4) Proceedings of IEEE, vol 66 no 11, November, 1978.
(5) J.C.R. Licklider and Robert W. Taylor, p.32.
(6) Stefferud, Einar et al, "Quotes from Some of the Players," ConneXions
- The Interoperability Report, vol 3 no 10, Foster City, California.
October, 1989, p. 21.
(7) See article by Larry Press posted on the comp.risks newsgroup,
September 6, 1991.
(8) J.C.R. Licklider and Robert W. Taylor, p. 40.
------------------------------
Much thanks is owed to the many who contributed Usenet posts and e-
mail responses to requests for examples of how the Net has changed
people's lives. Only a few of the many replies received could be quoted
but all contributed to this work.
The following people who were quoted chose that their email addresses
be included:
Jim Carroll jcarroll@jacc.com
Kieran Clulow u1036254@vmsuser.acsu.unsw.edu.au
Robert Dean robdean@access.digex.net
Jack Frisch frischj@gbms01.uwgb.edu
Scott Hatton 100114.1650@compuserve.com
Lu Ann Johnson ai411@yfn.ysu.edu
Jean-Francois Messier messier@igs.net
Larry Press lpress@isi.edu
Chuq Von Rospach chuqui@plaidworks.com
Gregory G. Woodbury news@wolves.durham.nc.us
Last Updated: June 5, 1996
===============================================================
This article is a draft chapter from Michael Hauben's
and Ronda Hauben's
netbook
titled "Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet."
*Commercial use is prohibited*
Please send us any comments about this draft. Send comments to
both hauben@columbia.edu and rh120@columbia.edu.