At present, there is no way to know when the Mikes on the Internet are even real, let alone credible. Consequently, we wish to underscore the fundamental importance of this issue.
Predictor: Morris, Merrill
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Merrill Morris and Christine Ogan write: ”Recently, on a feminist newsnet group, an individual began to post what appeared to be off-base comments to a serious discussion of feminist issues. Several days later, it was determined that ‘Mike’ was a computer-generated personage and not a real contributor to the discussion at all. At present, there is no way to know when the Mikes on the Internet are even real, let alone credible. Consequently, we wish to underscore the fundamental importance of this issue.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Anonymity/Personal Identity
Name of publication: Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
Title, headline, chapter name: The Internet as Mass Medium
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://jcmc.huji.ac.il/vol1/issue4/morris.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney