Commentary and discussion on The Virtual Community

Introduction:

In the 8th chapter of Howard’s book, Virtual Communities, he speaks about virtual communities, their history, his opinion of them and how they were formed. I understand his point of view and how he bases his opinions off what he has seen and experienced. However, I am not in 100% agreement with his prediction of massive social upheaval resulting from the Net getting to “big for its britches” if you will. On this page I will discuss my opinion of Howard, as well as provide personal commentary regarding his point of view about virtual communities and the Net.

In the beginning:

Howard begins to explain that his virtual community experience started with the French based Calvados project, which was founded in the early 1980’s, and consisted of between twenty and thirty people. These groups chatted online for no purpose other than making each other fall off their chair laughing, every day, hours on end. It seemed to be a very entertaining way to use this new technology.

Calvados steadily grew in users, size and technology and with the help of a 2 million dollar finance, they were able to upgrade the system, rewrite the software and began to target not just Apple II users, but all PC users as well. At this point the newly upgraded and renamed CalvaCom was still frequented mostly by computer enthusiasts, talking mostly about computing. Virtual communities at this point were still quite primitive in nature and in use.

In a bizarre twist of events, several users cracked the system, enabling them to use the system without paying for it. Upon their discovery, instead of jail time, they received free accounts and were put in charge of system security! As CalvaCom grew, so did the number of users. With more users came more system exploration which eventually resulted in databases being hacked to enable users to communicate in real time. People were beginning to see the potential of this new tool and started creating new ways to use it. In fact, the very first chat system was a user’s hack.

Here we can see the desire to improve the system. They could not work for the system, so they did what they could. They used the tools they had available and bent the system to do their will.

Use it, or abuse it:

Soon, users began realizing this new chat environment enabled them to portray parts of their personalities they would never expose in public. This was good in some ways, but bad in others. It gave people an outlet to express themselves and release the tension of keeping it inside for so long. Some however, enjoyed this far too much and became addicted to it, eventually leading to internet stalkers, sexual predators, invasive and mischievous hacking, identity thieves, you name it. With every new technology comes two choices: Use it, or abuse it.

These new ways of communicating had their dark sides, as with any new technology, but many good uses came of it as well. For instance, those desperate for companionship could, to a certain extent, find it online. People with debilitating diseases and no hope for a cure could chat with other people with similar issues, alleviating the emotional pain that accompanies such an ailment. Those who lost loved ones could find comfort talking and sympathizing with others who experienced the same. People frustrated at home or at work could release their frustrations virtually, rather than physically. All these and more seem to justify the need for virtual communities.

Database Blues:

Circumstances like those above could potentially lead to the formation of an online community, based on strong personal relationships as Howard suggested. These virtual communities are formed because people everywhere are interested in communicating and interacting with other people, not just the soulless computer database.

It is human nature to desire other human contact. How enjoyable would it be if all we had to communicate with were computer databases? Maybe fun at first but eventually we would go nuts. Virtual communities offer this contact via a new medium that expands our capabilities of communicating with others beyond the reach of our home, while in our home.

Social Upheaval? Nah…

Toward the end of chapter 8, Howard says the following "the global Net is rapidly approaching a critical mass as the means of jacking in are becoming more affordable every day. The expertise needed to set up networks is diffusing rapidly and many countries will soon face the conflict that Japanese and French telecommunications planners must address: to refuse to join the Net in its widest sense and face being left behind, or to join the Net and face social upheaval.”

This is where I disagree with Howard. Up to this point his observations and opinions have been accurate and valid. Now suggests the Net is quickly building pressure like an over inflated balloon ready to BURST, resulting in massive social chaos? That is too far fetched for my taste. Plainly put, I think it’s a bunch of crap.

My experiences with academic material related to and speaking of Howard Rheingold have been quite interesting. Through this, I’ve slowly developed an assumption that he is against the Net and its eventual evolution. The end of this chapter seems to solidify my assumption even more.

He seems to be encouraging us to regress technologically. To limit our creative abilities at the fear of social upheaval. How far would we have come as a human race if we always ran away from our ideas in fear of their potential consequences? We would still be in our caves chipping away at our obsidian shards, making our spears to catch our dinner for the evening. Oh wait, those spears could have dangerous potential consequences… never mind… we’d be starving to death.

The Net; Benefit or Burden?

The Net is an amazing invention that continues to advance and improve as the years roll by. I cannot fathom this wonderful invention causing a social upheaval as Howard puts it. Earlier I spoke of internet users eventually creating their own ways to communicate. Even if we did get to a point that the Net had to be shut down for our own safety, this would not stop us from communicating. This would only inspire us to develop new ways to communicate.

Humankind has always been, and will always be compelled to find new ways of getting things done quicker and more efficiently. The Net is our pinnacle achievement of this crusade for improvement. With it, we can now do things instantaneously where as without the Net it could take weeks if not months.

For instance, we can now browse through foreign products online and purchase them in the blink of an eye, without ever having to leave our homes. Doing so without the Net would take weeks if not months via mail order. We can send instant messages and as the name implies, the result is usually instant. Doing so by mail could take weeks. True, reading a hand written letter, or sending one does have a more personal meaning to it.

In some respects the Net can never replace the traditional ways of doing these things. For example, it could never:

• replace the smell of your girlfriends perfume as you open her letter.
• replicate the taste of authentic Swiss chocolate from your boyfriends letter.
• make up for the experience of traveling to a distant land in search of precious commodities.

But let’s face it, the Net does make our lives easier in some ways, be it directly or indirectly. For example, paying for your gas at the pump with your credit card, ordering dinner online when your phones are down, paying for your groceries with your bank card because you left your cash at home. There are a plethora of other examples but for the sake of time lets just say that the Net can and does benefit us.

The use of technology began with the conversion of plentiful natural resources into simple tools. The prehistoric discovery of the ability to create and control fire, a simple energy source, increased the amount of available sources of food. The invention of the wheel helped humans travel through and control their environment.

In contrast, the modern discovery of the ability to create and control electricity increased the amount of available sources of technology. The invention of the computer, an inevitable electrically powered invention, helped humans travel through and control their new electronic environment, the Net. Even as I write this page, I am controlling this new electronic environment.

The BIG picture:

I am saying all this in response to Howard’s encouragement of internet regression at the fear of social upheaval and to bring the big picture into focus.

Like it or not, technology is our future. Humankind will continue to evolve, this is inevitable. With evolution comes adaptation, invention, and exploration of new ways to do things. Our survival as a human race depends on our evolution and adaptation to our environments. The internet is just another logical step in our evolution. Something as strong as evolution cannot be stopped.

It may seem like I'm thinking way to much about this, and that may be the case. However, this is how I feel about the internet and the virtual communities that accompany it.