Howard Rheingold (b. 1947) has been writing and speaking about the human side of computer technology since the mid-1980s. He is former editor of The Whole Earth Review; founding executive editor of HotWired (Wired magazine's online venture); one of the original members and of the WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link), the online community started in Sausalito, California, that he writes about in this selection; and founder of Electric Minds, a Web-based conferencing and community group. Rheingold's books include The Millennium Whole Earth Catalog (editor; HarperSanFrancisco, 1994), Tools for Thought: The People and Ideas of the Next Computer Revolution (Simon & Schuster, 1985), and Virtual Reality (Simon & Schuster, 1991). This selection is from the first chapter of The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier (Addison-Wesley, 1993).
1. Review the human examples that Rheingold offers of the WELL's electronic community -- the cases of his own daughter Mamie, Jay and Lillie Allison, Albert Mitchell, Phil and Gabe Catalfo, Clifford Figallo, Casey/Kathleen, and Elly. What characteristics or aspects of community does Rheingold use each example to illustrate?
2. What are the major qualities of "third places" as defined by Ray Oldenburg (¶ 24)? To what extent do you agree with Rheingold that "many of his descriptions of third places could also describe the WELL" (¶ 25)?
3. What fears about or objections to computer-mediated communication does Rheingold bring up in this essay, and how effectively do you think he answers those objections?
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