The prediction, in brief:

It is unlikely that social benefits will occur simply as a byproduct of information-centered technology and policies. As the number, size, and heterogeneity of groups continues to grow, so does the need for group tools and the need to understand group governance. Tools and policies directed at individual information processors are not necessarily responsive to group needs … If we remember that access to the net means not only access to information, but access to people, we can provide tools and policies to promote both.

Predictor: Sproull, Lee

Prediction, in context:

The 1995 book “Public Access to the Internet,” edited by Brian Kahin and James Keller carries the chapter, “Atheism, Sex, and Databases: The Net as a Social Technology” by Lee Sproull and Samer Faraj. Sproull was a professor of management at Boston University and has done research on electronic groups that was sponsored by the Markle Foundation. Faraj was a doctoral student in MIS at Boston University. They write:”One might ask why it is necessary to attend directly to electronic groups and to the net as a social technology. The answer is that it is unlikely that social benefits will occur simply as a byproduct of information-centered technology and policies. As the number, size, and heterogeneity of groups continues to grow, so does the need for group tools and the need to understand group governance. Tools and policies directed at individual information processors are not necessarily responsive to group needs … If we remember that access to the net means not only access to information, but access to people, we can provide tools and policies to promote both.”

Date of prediction: January 1, 1995

Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure

Subtopic: General

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

Title, headline, chapter name: Atheism, Sex, and Databases: The Net as a Social Technology

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Pages 78, 79

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