[9324] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: The annointed
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Tom Limoncelli)
Wed Dec 29 10:13:46 1993
To: com-priv@psi.com
From: tom_limoncelli@warren.mentorg.com (Tom Limoncelli)
Date: 29 Dec 1993 10:13:07 -0500
[ Summary: I explore the cultural differences of Internet from
BBS/FIDO world, having seen it from both sides. I then explain how
this relates to Internet elitism. I then relate this to the need for a
commericialized internet to have ghettos, rather than to try to make
everyone fit in the same form. I propose 1-2 examples that will make
this happen (or are making it happen already). ]
In <199312290621.AA22099@world.std.com> bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein) writes:
>>Third, the system has to be easier to use. How many of your friends can
>>not program their VCR?--and we expect them to understand UNIX, let alone
>>DOS?
>These thoughts don't follow, even if they might seem to.
My mother (the person I use in examples all the time... if she only
knew) can NOT set the clock on a VCR, can NOT program it to record
Seinfeld next Thursday, etc. However, SHE can boot her 286 computer,
select WordPerfect from a menu, and then do whatever she needs to do
for her real estate business.
I agree with Barry that the it is not a valid comparison.
(where I work we have secretaries that use "vi" and "troff" and it
amazes the company that we merged with... 'cause all their secretaries
use Macs).
I think the issue is somewhere else.
I think the eliteism of current internet users is about maturity and
cyber-cultural differences.
Ever see a FIDO (or BBS in general) user get on the internet and start
posting? There are huge etiquette differences and a FIDO user posting
to the internet looks like a fool from our point of view. They post
short 1-liners; they post publicly things meant for an individual user
(because truly private messages are charged 50 cent/message, it's
socially acceptable to post "Hey bob! Wanna meet for lunch on
Wednesday" in the middle of a public forum; they have huge ASCII
graphics displays; they format their text in triangles, circles, etc.
to look cool.
The other difference is that the average age of someone posting to
soc.motss (for example) is around 35. The average age of someone
posting to GayCom is 20. Average income is 1/3 lower on GayCom;
average occupation is more operational than management. Etc. etc.
The reverse exists.
[ Background information: Outside of work, I do a lot of bisexual
rights activism. On the internet I read all the gay/bi/lesbian/
general-activism/conservative-politics/liberal-politics mailing lists,
newsgroups, FTP sites, you name it. People that aren't on the internet
keep telling me about how I should get on FIDO (GayCom), etc. etc.
because it's the greatest thing in the world. There are over 6 sites
connected around the U.S. Woopie. ]
Someone offered a free account on the local FIDO/GayCom node. So I
finally connect. I felt like a stranger in a strange land.
First mistake. I used my real name instead of a handle. What a nerdy
thing to do! I feel like I just walked into my first day of high
school and I'm wearing a "KICK ME" sign on my back.
Second mistake. I forgot that everything there was half-baked truths
presented as facts. On the internet, I can FTP press releases and
scanned-in new articles from FTP sites with political info and use them
to back up my claims. On FIDO, the average person doesn't subscribe to
a newspaper, so everything is hearsay. I feel like I'm having the
birds and bees explained to me by a 3rd graders... and it's all about a
stork.
Censureship differences: On the internet, freedom of speech is only
limited by the social construct that certain posts should go in certain
newsgroups. Posting personal adverts in soc.motss is frowned upon...
they go in alt.personals. However, BBSs are run by Joe Smaltz on his
spare 286, or more likely (by volumne of sites) by some teen with a
spare Commodore-64. You now deal with power and control issues. "I
removed your message because I didn't like it!", or more commonly, "I
removed your message because it flamed me and I have a sensitivity
about that and I'm a control freak and I get a thrill from censuring
your posts!" (Footnote: When I was 15 I ran a BBS. I'm the youngest
of 5 siblings and with no one younger than me to push around I passed
on my grief to my users. This is similar to the abused child in the
dysfunctional family that rips apart her dolls after her parents beat
her. "Next on Oprah".)
Next confusing point: The technology is all different. There's one
menu to send FIDO mail. There's one menu to send GayCom mail. Posting
a private message in a public forum is another function. Sending
internet mail is on another menu. Why? Because there is no
multitasking. You can't pipe to a generic send-this-message program
and have it route, queue, etc. the message. You have to "door" to a
entirely new program that is, say, a uucp gateway or a Fido gateway.
Ugh.
How does this relate to com-priv? (I knew you'd ask that). Basicly,
"Internet-in-a-box" is a good thing, but the culture shock is going to
be difficult. I think the manual is going to need to have entire
chapters on etiquette (just re-phrase the old, old "Netiquette FAQ" in
a way that new people will understand better) or some way to keep
people separated.
While Mosaic is a research tool, mailing lists and newsgroups are
social tools. They are like dance clubs for the computer literate.
There's a good reason why there are teen-clubs, sports bars,
gentlemen's bars, gay bars [and within that genre there are sleezy
ones, fancy ones, women-only, etc], fancy bars, and after-hour clubs.
The legal drinking age is 21 in the U.S., but a lot of bars in NYC only
let in people 25 and older... because of the maturity level they're
shooting for.
I wouldn't want kids at the after-hour clubs... and I'd be bored to
death at a sports bar.
People bitch about Prodigy's censurship. However, for their target
market (mixed computer illiterates, BBS weenies, and "family
entertainment") it's perfect.
The "should kids have access to alt.*"-issue, the "Internet
elitism"-issue, and many of these other issues aren't technological,
but social. We don't need a way to separate the newbies from the old
hags, we need a way to separate everyone from everyone, or ways to
integrate everyone into one big mindset. A million little islands or
one big melting pot.
We can change people and we can educate them. ...but the task of
creating one big melting pot is beyond me. The internet is stratefied
already. Different newsgroups for different folks. It's a social
construct that solves a technical problem (which is good, in my book).
As the internet grows, we just need the resource guides (The Whole
Earth Internet Guide, Yarnoff's, GNN, etc.) to NOT be alphabetical, but
to be grouped by interest, age-group, etc. Heck, the rec.humor.funny
annual joke books even put all the dirty jokes in one chapter so
you could tear it out (if you were, for example, giving the book
to your mother).
In doing so they'll also serve their readers better.
Tom
--
Tom Limoncelli -- tal@warren.mentorg.com (work) -- tal@plts.org (play)
"Psst! Hey, Anthony! Y'know what I | Disclaimer: I do not
like about existing?" "Uh... uh... what?" | speak for Mentor Graphics.
"Possessing a physical extension." -TSA |
