Search Salon

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Recently in Salon Technology

Column
Napster -- friend or foe?
Fans have already embraced new music-distribution technologies. Musicians can fight them or join them.
By Scott Rosenberg
[03/30/00]

Opening the dungeon
Does game maker Wizards of the Coast really want to create an open-source Dungeons & Dragons, or is it just trying to capitalize on the buzz?
By Wagner James Au
[03/29/00]

Why leave your 'marks online?
A bevy of companies wants you to move your bookmarks from your browser to the Web, but it's not clear how you'd benefit.
By Damien Cave
[03/28/00]

Technology: View from the top
Cybersleuth
Posing as a thief or informing the FBI about hacker behavior -- it's all in a day's work for AntiOnline founder John Vranesevich.
By Mark Compton
[03/27/00]

21st Challenge
21st Challenge No. 32
Credos of the high-tech world -- unencrypted!
By Charlie Varon and Jim Rosenau
[03/25/00]

Complete archives for Technology

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Soon a gaggle of writers, artists, scientists and thinkers struggled with the arcane posting software and began conversing online, developing "virtual" relationships and roughing-out guidelines for acceptable behavior in a text-based community. After a few years, some "Wellbeings," as they called themselves, expressed consternation that the group had grown so big and prolific that people could no longer read all the new posts in a day. But they didn't give up -- in fact, it seems they just wrote more; these days, it's not unusual to find 90,000 words of new posts to the public "conferences" or topic areas in a day.

And plenty of exceptionally interesting people, like the ones Brand and Brilliant hand-picked to start the party 15 years ago, still hang out on the Well, trading ideas, decrying conspiracies, critiquing movies, restaurants and each other. The sum total of their communication has provided an invaluable road map over the years for anyone interested in exploring the possibilities and problems inherent in the notion of community online.

To commemorate the first 15 years of the Well -- which started with the Whole Earth vision and rounded out with the Well's acquisition last year by Salon.com -- we asked several Well members to share their thoughts about what makes the Well what it is.

Jon Carroll makes imaginary friends
Farai Chideya learns rules, jargon and how to choose her battles
Mary Mackey decides against summering in Moldova
Susan McCarthy becomes the life of the party
Steve Silberman discovers something better than a time machine
Mary Elizabeth Williams graduates from misfit to Miss Popular

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Table Talk
Plumb the depths of the Well Got questions?
We've got answers.