After reading the article about the death of Geocities, I must admit I was amused and intrigued by peoples response to loosing the site (see the link to the YouTube video with comments from people below - Geocities eulogy). It made me start to think about the role these communities play in peoples lives and what I may be missing out on. The WELL is one such existing community that was launched in 1985 as the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL). The WELL began as a dial-up bulletin board system (BBS) and has evolved with the changing technology to its current form and currently has 4000 members.
"You don't need an invitation from a member in order to become part of The WELL. You do need to use your real name, but we will not attempt to get you to invite your email contacts or otherwise drag the rest of your daily life in with you. The service is distinguished by the quality of our non-anonymous participants, and by uncommon policies." (Retrieved 22 January 2011 from: http://www.well.com/aboutwell.html
Howard Rheingold wrote about his experiences as a member of The Well in his book The Virtual Community. It highlights the community spirit that was created with people from all walks of life and with no geographical boundaries. Friendships were made and transferred into real life. The WELLs annual picnic held in San Francisco was a highly anticipated event by many of the WELL members.
Why has the WELL survived termination when compared to other communities such as Geocities? When you consider that The WELL has been online for 26 years, one would have to look at what was on offer around that time. The answer is - not much. The next 'big thing' in the online community took place 10 years later in the format of Geocities. So in fact The WELL was a trail blazer in its time. In the 80's, computers were mostly available to people in their places of work or study. Personal computers were an expensive luxury and so were not as common in as many homes as they are today. Internet access was expensive as it often entailed dialing an international number to gain access. I could not find any statistics to show internet usage in the 80's but in 1995 there was a population of 16 million internet users. One can only imagine it was no where near that amount in 1985. Could it be that in the 80's the calibre of people that were on the internet and joining the WELL were either or all of the following - education, mature, hippies, geeks, activists and respected members of society that came together at a time where geological boundaries had just been crashed and so forged relationships that would see them well into the future. Also a contributing factor is that you have to pay to be a member and contributions to chats are non-anonymous (is that even a word?...). So in short to be a member of The WELL is tantamount to being part of a privileged club with like minded members who have a genuine shared interest in the contents of its pages... Hence the continued survival of 'The WELL'...in my humble opinion. As Maria Wilhelm (president of the time) so aptly said in 1996:
References:
Internet Growth Statistics. Retrieved 22 January 2011 from: http://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm
Rheingold, H. (1993). The Virtual Community. Retrieved 22 January 2011, from: http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/1.html
The WELL, Retrieved 22 January 2011 from: http://www.well.com/aboutwell.html
Trager, L. (1996). Spreading the Well. Retrieved 22 January 2011, from: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1996/11/10/BUSINESS8420.dtl#ixzz1BrrFjumH
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