The prediction, in brief:

Growth in the number of users and in accessible information have fueled one another through a combination of demand pull and supply push, exemplifying the unusual economics of networks, where an increase in users increases rather than decreases the value of the service to connected users and institutions. This growth has challenged the culture of the Internet and drawn attention to the social aspects of participation in networked communities … Lee Sproull and Samer Faraj … identify the network as a social technology and recognize users as social beings. These distinctions will be important ones as planners seek to design systems more broadly integrated into our daily lives.

Predictor: Keller, James

Prediction, in context:

The 1995 book “Public Access to the Internet,” edited by Brian Kahin and James Keller carries the chapter, “Public Access Issues: An Introduction” by Keller, a research associate and coordinator of the Information Infrastruture Project at Harvard University. He writes:”Growth in the number of users and in accessible information have fueled one another through a combination of demand pull and supply push, exemplifying the unusual economics of networks, where an increase in users increases rather than decreases the value of the service to connected users and institutions. This growth has challenged the culture of the Internet and drawn attention to the social aspects of participation in networked communities … Lee Sproull and Samer Faraj … identify the network as a social technology and recognize users as social beings. These distinctions will be important ones as planners seek to design systems more broadly integrated into our daily lives.”

Date of prediction: January 1, 1995

Topic of prediction: Community/Culture

Subtopic: General

Name of publication: Public Access to the Internet (book)

Title, headline, chapter name: Public Access Issues: An Introduction

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Pages 36, 37

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne