The Future of Virtual Communities, Circa 1995

In 1995, I appeared on PBS Frontline, back when the future Internet was called "the Information Superhighway"

A virtual community is just like any other kind of community. It consists of people who have some common cause and who have some reason to care about each other. On computer networks people who share interests, whether those interests are butterfly collecting or being an Alzheimer's care giver or political activism can connect with each other, even if they are in very different places. Those connections between the people not the technology is what creates the community. It's just that the technology makes it possible for communities of interest to find each other more easily. The revolution really doesn't have to do with technology as much as it has to do with the way it changes relationships between people. I don't really care how my words travel through the telephone wires. I do care that I can pick it up and call the fire department if the house is on fire or call my mom. I think the same thing is true with the new media. We're talking about all the nuts and bolts. We really should be talking about the social relationships and the political implications of that.