Howard Rheingold

Howard Rheingold, "The Virtual Community"

Howard Rheingold (1947- ) was born in Arizona, and earned a B.A. in 1968 from Reed College. Rheingold's a pioneering expert on virtual communities, and currently runs a company that creates online social networks for businesses. His books include Tools for Thought: The People and Ideas Behind the Next Computer Revolution (1985), Virtual Reality (1991), Tools for Thought: The History and Future of Mind-Expanding Technology (2000), and Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution (2002), as well as two series of science fiction novels. Rheingold also launched the online magazine HotWired and contributes to periodicals such as The Whole Earth Review (where he was also the editor), Utne Reader, and Newsweek. "The Virtual Community" studies online communication as a valid and important form of human contact. It's an excerpt from The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier (1993).

CONTENT

1. Who is Flash Gordon, M.D.?
2. Which online community does the author discuss in the most detail?
3. What does the abbreviation CMC stand for?
4. Characterize the topics the author mentions on parenting.
5. What does the word panoptic mean? What does it have to do with the Internet?
6. In what year does Rheingold start this essay? What was going on with the Internet at this time? What does this say about the author's involvement?
7. How does the author put the members of a virtual community into a hierarchy based on "real trust"?

STRATEGY AND STYLE

1. Discuss how Rheingold uses a narrative element to start his essay. How effective is this approach given his views of virtual communities? Does this piece continue in the narrative mode or does he take a different approach? Explain.
2. In paragraph four Rheingold compares a cocktail party to something else. Complete the comparison. How does the resulting image tie in to the author's views of the main topic of this essay?
3. The author uses numerical structural signals in paragraphs twelve and following. What do these signals add? How effective are they as guideposts? What would the reading lose without them?
4. Take a look at the word that's italicized in the first paragraph. How do word choice and punctuation work together to bring some color to the opening?

1. Do you use the Internet for things like chatting and posting messages to groups? You probably use email, right? Have you ever had an unpleasant experience during any of these activities? Not even junk email? Try to relate these experiences to this text.
2. Do you consider yourself a computer geek, or do you put up with them because you just about have to? Are you maybe somewhere in between? How might these observations about yourself have influenced your reading?

SUGGESTIONS FOR SUSTAINED WRITING

1. The author considers the Internet to be an appropriate "medium for genuine human interaction." Take that statement and form it into a thesis, either agreeing or disagreeing with Rheingold. Then, using this reading and your online experiences, write an essay supporting your thesis statement.
2. The author also asks the question "How does anybody find friends?" Write a comparison/contrast essay about finding friends in traditional communities versus in virtual communities.

FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

You've probably heard horror stories about bad things that have happened to people who met using the Internet. While some of these are certainly true and tragic, what about the urban legends that have sprung up? Do some research and find some. Don't similar horror stories often arise about new types of communication—c.b. radios, cell phones, and others—and new types of technology—microwave ovens, computers, etc.—when first introduced? Find some of those urban legends, too. What might these things say about our feelings about the introduction of new technologies?

WEB CONNECTION

Read these reviews of Virtual Reality. One of them is a blurb. In that case, what would be a clever means of tracking down the whole review? One of these reviews is very different from the other two. Which one is it? Would you feel comfortable citing this last review in a paper about virtual communities? Explain.

LINKS

Biographical

Looking for a place to start your online research of Rheingold? This is his own homepage, which has photos and links to a biography, his work, and various virtual communities.

Keynote Speakers, this author's speaking agent, posted this biography and photo of Rheingold. What does this one mention that the one above doesn't? What accounts for the difference, do you think?

Bibliographical

PBS's television show Frontline conducted this interview about building communities on the Internet with Rheingold in 1995. Click here to read the transcript.

Are you interested in online chat rooms and instant messaging? Maybe you can pick up a communication pointer or two by reading Rheingold's essay, "The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online."

Cultural

Would you like to do some further research about virtual communities? This directory from Yahoo.com will help you along your way.

Ready for an essay on a closely related topic? Here's one by Derek Powazek called "Getting Real: Virtual Communities that Break the Fourth Wall." How can you link Powazek's ideas to the reading you just finished?

Are you Windows person or a Mac person? Why do you use the computer(s) you do? Here's a page devoted to information about Bill Gates, who had a brief association with the guys who started Apple Computer.