The prediction, in brief:

We need to think as teams here, across boundaries of academic discipline, industrial affiliation, nation, to understand, and thus perhaps regain control of, the way human communities are being transformed by communication technologies.

Predictor: Rheingold, Howard

Prediction, in context:

Howard Rheingold, at the time the editor of The Whole Earth Review and a prolific member of the Well online community, became an advocate for such groups. In 1988 The Whole Earth Review published his article, “Virtual Communities.” Four years later, he said, “I reread it and realized that I had learned a few things, and that the world I was observing had changed. So I rewrote it.” The following excerpts are taken from this 1992 rewrite, which was published online by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Portions of it also appeared in “Globalizing Networks: Computers and International Communication,” edited by Linda Harasim and Jan Walls (MIT Press) and in the book “The Virtual Community,” by Rheingold (MIT Press). ”We need to try to understand the nature of CMC [Computer-Mediated Communication], cyberspace, and virtual communities in every important context – politically, economically, socially, culturally, cognitively. Each different perspective reveals something that the other perspectives do not reveal. Each different discipline fails to see something that another discipline sees very well. We need to think as teams here, across boundaries of academic discipline, industrial affiliation, nation, to understand, and thus perhaps regain control of, the way human communities are being transformed by communication technologies.”

Biography:

Howard Rheingold, one of the first writers to illuminate the ideals and foibles of virtual communities, published a webzine called Electric Minds and wrote “Virtual Reality,” “Smart Mobs” and “Virtual Community.” He also was the editor of Whole Earth Review and the Millennium Whole Earth Catalog. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)

Date of prediction: January 1, 1992

Topic of prediction: Global Relationships/Politics

Subtopic: General

Name of publication: Electronic Frontier Foundation

Title, headline, chapter name: A Slice of Life in My Virtual Community

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.cosy.sbg.ac.at/doc/eegtti/eeg_261.html

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney