Author of five books and numerous columns, Rheingold is editor of the San Francisco-based Whole Earth Review, a publication from the late 1960s. During that period, what was known as the Whole Earth Catalog was more interested in saving the world than technology. Now Rheingold is of the opinion that technology will transform civilization.
In the introductory chapter, Rheingold states "I have written this book to help inform a wider population about the potential importance of cyberspace to political liberties and the ways virtual communities are likely to change our experience of the real world as individuals and communities. Although I am enthusiastic about the liberating potential of computer- mediated communications, I try to keep my eyes open for the pitfalls of mixing technology and human relationships. I hope my reports from the outposts and headquarters of this new kind of social habitation, and the stories of the people I've met in cyberspace, will bring to life the cultural, political, and ethical implications of virtual communities both for my fellow explorers of cyberspace and for those who never heard of it before."
Rheingold devotes much of the book to sharing his experiences as a participant in the WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link), a West Coast online coffee klatch. This virtual community is a group of people who thrive on spending time together in cyberspace discussing current events, soliciting help with personal problems, debating the latest net new-comer's idiocy, conducting business, and playing games. Apparently this activity has consumed vast amounts of time for many of the WELLbeings.
Aside from descriptions of everyday life on the Net, he also explores the reasons why so many people find spending time online so tempting. Rheingold wonders whether cyberspace is "precisely the wrong place to look for the rebirth of community, offering not a tool for conviviality but a life- denying simulacrum of real passion and true commitment to one another."
Further on he asks: "If a lonely person chooses to spend many hours a day in an imaginary society, typing witticisms with strangers on other continents, is that good or bad?"
The Virtual Community may entice Net novices to get connected to online services to discover what all the commotion is about. It may also spur the extant online community to begin the process of protecting this source of freedom of speech. Perhaps the biggest eye-opener is that most people on the Internet are using it to meet others and maintain online relationships, not to get the latest information on the weather in Maui or how their senator voted on the last bill.
An extensive bibliography, approximately six pages long, on many aspects of Net connections adds value to this book.
Published by Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. ISBN 0-201-60870- 7. Hardcover: $22.95.
