The prediction, in brief:

The most effective platforms … are regionally-based, Internet-connected electronic communities, where the motto ‘think globally, act locally,” can best be put into practice. These systems may be self-contained in that they pay for their own operations and Internet connections, handle all administrative tasks for their users, and develop their own local community standards of behavior and interaction.

Predictor: Figallo, Cliff

Prediction, in context:

The 1995 book “Public Access to the Internet,” edited by Brian Kahin and James Keller carries the chapter, “The WELL: A Regionally Based On-Line Community on the Internet” by Cliff Figallo. Figallo, a networking consultant in the San Francisco area who served as director of the Whole Earth Lectronic Link from 1986 to 1992, writes:”The most effective platforms … are regionally-based, Internet-connected electronic communities, where the motto ‘think globally, act locally,’ can best be put into practice. These systems may be self-contained in that they pay for their own operations and Internet connections, handle all administrative tasks for their users, and develop their own local community standards of behavior and interaction. Their users may ‘travel’ out through their Internet gateways to other regional systems or search for information in the myriad of on-line databases. Other Internet travelers can visit these communities and experience their unique qualities – the local flavor, focus, and individuals who inhabit the systems. The main attractions of these local Internet ‘towns’ may prove to be their characteristic on-line conversations and social conventions and their focus on specialized fields of knowledge or problem solving.”

Biography:

Cliff Figallo, was managing director of the WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link, one of the best known conferencing systems and virtual communities in the United States in the 1990s) and a director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Cambridge office in the early 1990s. He later worked with Pandora Systems. Figallo and John Coate are regarded to be the chief architects of the WELL’s implementation of virtual community. (Advocate/Voice of the People.)

Date of prediction: January 1, 1995

Topic of prediction: Community/Culture

Subtopic: Virtual Communities

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

Title, headline, chapter name: The WELL: A Regionally Based On-Line Community on the Internet

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 50

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