WELL
Encyclopedia
The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, normally shortened to The WELL, is one of the oldest virtual communities in continuous operation. It currently has about 4,000 members. It is best known for its Internet forums, but also provides email, shell account
s, and web pages. The discussion and topics on the WELL range from the deeply serious to the generally silly, depending on the nature and interests of the participants.
and Larry Brilliant
in 1985, and the name is partially a reference to some of Brand's earlier projects, including the Whole Earth Catalog
. The WELL began as a dial-up bulletin board system
(BBS), became one of the original dial-up ISP
s in the early 1990s when commercial traffic was first allowed, and changed into its current form as the Internet and web technology evolved. Its original management team—Matthew McClure, soon joined by Cliff Figallo and John Coate—collaborated with its early users to foster a sense of virtual community
. From 1994 to 1999 the WELL was owned by Bruce Katz, founder of Rockport
, a manufacturer of walking shoes. Since April 1999 it has been owned by Salon.com
, several of whose founders such as Scott Rosenberg
had previously been regular participants there. Gail Ann Williams
was hired by Figallo in 1991, and has continued in management roles into the current era.
Notable items in WELL history include being the forum through which John Perry Barlow
, John Gilmore, and Mitch Kapor
, the founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
, met. Howard Rheingold
, an early and very active member, was inspired to write his book The Virtual Community
by his experience on the WELL. The WELL was a major online meeting place for fans of the Grateful Dead
, especially those who followed the band from concert to concert, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The WELL also played a role in the book Takedown about the pursuit and capture of Kevin Mitnick
. Founded in Sausalito, California
, the service is now based in San Francisco.
In August 2005 Salon Media Group
announced that it was looking for a buyer for the WELL, in order to concentrate on other business lines. In November 2006, a press release of The WELL said, "As Salon has not found a suitable purchaser, it has determined that it is currently in the best interest of the company to retain this business and has therefore suspended all efforts to sell The WELL."
Within conferences, members open separate conversational threads called topics for specific items of interest. For example, the Media conference has (or had) topics devoted to the New York Times, media ethics, and the Luann
comic strip. An example of a local conference is the one on San Francisco, which has topics on restaurants, the city government, and neighborhood news.
"Public" conferences are open to all members, while "private" conferences are restricted to a list of users controlled by the conference hosts, called the ulist. Some "featured private" or "private independent" conferences (such as "Women on the WELL" and "Recovery") are listed in the WELL's directory, but are access restricted for privacy or membership-restriction reasons. Members may request admission to such conferences. There are also a large number of unlisted secret private conferences. The names of these conferences are public, but the contents, hosts, and members are restricted to members of a particular conference. Membership in private conferences is by invitation. WELL members may open their own new public or private independent conferences.
, and since 1998, Gail Ann Williams
, previously known as one of the principals in the political satire group the Plutonium Players. Collaboration, counterpoint and irreverence are respected values in the WELL community, nurtured by these unusual leaders over two decades.
The community forums, known as Conferences, are supervised by conference hosts who guide conversations and may enforce conference rules on civility and/or appropriateness. Initially all hosts were selected by staff members. In 1995, Gail Williams
changed the policies to enable user-created forums. Participants at the Complete membership level can create their own independent personal conferences—either viewable by any WELL member or privately viewable by those members on a restricted membership list—on any subject they please with any rules they like.
Overall support and supervision of the conferencing services is handled by several staff members, often referred to collectively as confteam, the name of the UNIX user account used by staff for conference maintenance. They have more system operational powers than conference hosts, along with the additional social authority of selecting featured conference hosts and (rarely) closing accounts for abuse.
WELL members use a consistent login name when posting messages, and a non-fixed pseudonym
field alongside it. The pseudonym (or pseud in WELL parlance) defaults to the user's real name, but can be changed at will and so often reflects a quotation from another user, or is an in-joke, or may be left blank. The user's real name can be easily looked-up using their login name. WELL members are not anonymous
.
There is a time-honored double meaning to the WELL slogan coined by Stewart Brand, "You Own Your Own Words" or ("YOYOW
"): members have both the rights to their posted words and responsibility for those words, too. (Members can also delete their posts at any time, but a placeholder indicates the former location and author of an erased or scribbled post, as well as who scribbled it.)
Forums can be read using a regular browser or by logging into a command-line UNIX system via secure shell
and using a classic text-based interface called PicoSpan
.
of the San Francisco Chronicle
, Wendy M. Grossman
of The Inquirer
, and critic Andy Klein of Los Angeles CityBeat
.
The WELL also received numerous awards in the 1980s and 1990s, including a Webby Award for online community in 1998, and an EFF Pioneer Award
in 1994.
, and refunding his membership fee.
Shell account
A shell account is a user account on a remote server which gives access to a shell via a command-line interface protocol such as telnet or ssh....
s, and web pages. The discussion and topics on the WELL range from the deeply serious to the generally silly, depending on the nature and interests of the participants.
History
The WELL was started by Stewart BrandStewart Brand
Stewart Brand is an American writer, best known as editor of the Whole Earth Catalog. He founded a number of organizations including The WELL, the Global Business Network, and the Long Now Foundation...
and Larry Brilliant
Larry Brilliant
Lawrence "Larry" Brilliant is an American physician, epidemiologist, technologist, author, and the former director of Google's philanthropic arm Google.org. Brilliant, a technology patent holder, has been CEO of two public companies and other venture backed start ups. From 1973 to 1976, he...
in 1985, and the name is partially a reference to some of Brand's earlier projects, including the Whole Earth Catalog
Whole Earth Catalog
The Whole Earth Catalog was an American counterculture catalog published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and 1972, and occasionally thereafter, until 1998...
. The WELL began as a dial-up bulletin board system
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
(BBS), became one of the original dial-up ISP
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s in the early 1990s when commercial traffic was first allowed, and changed into its current form as the Internet and web technology evolved. Its original management team—Matthew McClure, soon joined by Cliff Figallo and John Coate—collaborated with its early users to foster a sense of virtual community
Virtual community
A virtual community is a social network of individuals who interact through specific media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals...
. From 1994 to 1999 the WELL was owned by Bruce Katz, founder of Rockport
Rockport (company)
The Rockport Company is a manufacturer of shoes based in Canton, Massachusetts.Founded in Marlborough, Massachusetts in 1971 by Bruce Katz, the company produces footwear and operates stores in the United States and 66 countries around the world...
, a manufacturer of walking shoes. Since April 1999 it has been owned by Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, several of whose founders such as Scott Rosenberg
Scott Rosenberg (journalist)
- External links :**...
had previously been regular participants there. Gail Ann Williams
Gail Williams
Gail Ann Williams has been the director of The WELL since 1998. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in the 1970s and got involved in political theater as both a creative and management member of the Plutonium Players troupe...
was hired by Figallo in 1991, and has continued in management roles into the current era.
Notable items in WELL history include being the forum through which John Perry Barlow
John Perry Barlow
John Perry Barlow is an American poet and essayist, a retired Wyoming cattle rancher, and a cyberlibertarian political activist who has been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He is also a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a founding member of the Electronic...
, John Gilmore, and Mitch Kapor
Mitch Kapor
Mitchell David Kapor is the founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the designer of Lotus 1-2-3. He is also a co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and was the first chair of the Mozilla Foundation...
, the founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
, met. Howard Rheingold
Howard Rheingold
-See also:* Collective intelligence* Information society* The WELL* Virtual community-External links:***** at TED conference** a 48MB Quicktime movie, hosted by the Internet Archive...
, an early and very active member, was inspired to write his book The Virtual Community
The Virtual Community
The Virtual Community is a 1993 book about virtual communities by Howard Rheingold, a member of the early network system The Well. A second edition, with a new concluding chapter was published in 2000 by MIT Press.-External links:...
by his experience on the WELL. The WELL was a major online meeting place for fans of the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, especially those who followed the band from concert to concert, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The WELL also played a role in the book Takedown about the pursuit and capture of Kevin Mitnick
Kevin Mitnick
Kevin David Mitnick is a computer security consultant, author, and hacker. In the late 20th century, he was convicted of various computer- and communications-related crimes. At the time of his arrest, he was the most-wanted computer criminal in the United States.-Personal life:Mitnick grew up in...
. Founded in Sausalito, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the service is now based in San Francisco.
In August 2005 Salon Media Group
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
announced that it was looking for a buyer for the WELL, in order to concentrate on other business lines. In November 2006, a press release of The WELL said, "As Salon has not found a suitable purchaser, it has determined that it is currently in the best interest of the company to retain this business and has therefore suspended all efforts to sell The WELL."
Topics of discussion
The WELL is divided into general subject areas known as conferences. These conferences reflect member interests, and include arts, health, business, regions, hobbies, spirituality, music, politics, games, software and many more.Within conferences, members open separate conversational threads called topics for specific items of interest. For example, the Media conference has (or had) topics devoted to the New York Times, media ethics, and the Luann
Luann (comic strip)
Luann is a syndicated newspaper comic strip distributed by United Features Syndicate since 17 March 1985. Luann is written and drawn by Greg Evans, who won the 2003 Reuben Award as Cartoonist of the Year....
comic strip. An example of a local conference is the one on San Francisco, which has topics on restaurants, the city government, and neighborhood news.
"Public" conferences are open to all members, while "private" conferences are restricted to a list of users controlled by the conference hosts, called the ulist. Some "featured private" or "private independent" conferences (such as "Women on the WELL" and "Recovery") are listed in the WELL's directory, but are access restricted for privacy or membership-restriction reasons. Members may request admission to such conferences. There are also a large number of unlisted secret private conferences. The names of these conferences are public, but the contents, hosts, and members are restricted to members of a particular conference. Membership in private conferences is by invitation. WELL members may open their own new public or private independent conferences.
Policy and governance
The directors of The WELL have included Matthew McClure and Cliff Figallo, both veterans of the 1970s commune called The FarmThe Farm (Tennessee)
The Farm is an intentional community in Lewis County, Tennessee, near the town of Summertown, Tennessee, based on principles of nonviolence and respect for the Earth. It was founded in 1971 by Stephen Gaskin and 320 San Francisco hippies; The Farm is well known amongst hippies and other members of...
, and since 1998, Gail Ann Williams
Gail Williams
Gail Ann Williams has been the director of The WELL since 1998. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in the 1970s and got involved in political theater as both a creative and management member of the Plutonium Players troupe...
, previously known as one of the principals in the political satire group the Plutonium Players. Collaboration, counterpoint and irreverence are respected values in the WELL community, nurtured by these unusual leaders over two decades.
The community forums, known as Conferences, are supervised by conference hosts who guide conversations and may enforce conference rules on civility and/or appropriateness. Initially all hosts were selected by staff members. In 1995, Gail Williams
Gail Williams
Gail Ann Williams has been the director of The WELL since 1998. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in the 1970s and got involved in political theater as both a creative and management member of the Plutonium Players troupe...
changed the policies to enable user-created forums. Participants at the Complete membership level can create their own independent personal conferences—either viewable by any WELL member or privately viewable by those members on a restricted membership list—on any subject they please with any rules they like.
Overall support and supervision of the conferencing services is handled by several staff members, often referred to collectively as confteam, the name of the UNIX user account used by staff for conference maintenance. They have more system operational powers than conference hosts, along with the additional social authority of selecting featured conference hosts and (rarely) closing accounts for abuse.
WELL members use a consistent login name when posting messages, and a non-fixed pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
field alongside it. The pseudonym (or pseud in WELL parlance) defaults to the user's real name, but can be changed at will and so often reflects a quotation from another user, or is an in-joke, or may be left blank. The user's real name can be easily looked-up using their login name. WELL members are not anonymous
Anonymity
Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a...
.
There is a time-honored double meaning to the WELL slogan coined by Stewart Brand, "You Own Your Own Words" or ("YOYOW
YOYOW
YOYOW is a storied example of Internet slang, an acronym for a phrase coined by Stewart Brand when he launched The WELL. It is short for "You Own Your Own Words."Members of The WELL have fought about the implications of the term for many years...
"): members have both the rights to their posted words and responsibility for those words, too. (Members can also delete their posts at any time, but a placeholder indicates the former location and author of an erased or scribbled post, as well as who scribbled it.)
Joining and reading
WELL membership is available to almost anyone, but requires a paid subscription and use of one's real name. Most postings on the WELL can be read only by members; however, there are some external member web sites, and a few publicly readable conferences:- inkwell.vue, an interview conference featuring online conversations with artists, journalist and authors such as Neil GaimanNeil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
, Bruce SterlingBruce SterlingMichael Bruce Sterling is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre.-Writings:...
and Farai ChideyaFarai ChideyaFarai Chideya is a novelist, multimedia journalist and radio host. She is producing and hosting "Pop and Politics with Farai Chideya," a series of radio specials on politics....
. - pre.vue, a catch-all where WELL members post tidbits of all kinds.
- deadsongs.vue, a conference to discuss Grateful DeadGrateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
song lyrics.
Forums can be read using a regular browser or by logging into a command-line UNIX system via secure shell
Secure Shell
Secure Shell is a network protocol for secure data communication, remote shell services or command execution and other secure network services between two networked computers that it connects via a secure channel over an insecure network: a server and a client...
and using a classic text-based interface called PicoSpan
PicoSpan
Picospan was a popular computer conferencing tool written by Marcus D. Watts for the Altos 68000. It was written in 1983, for the most famous and popular computer conferencing system at that time, called M-Net, which was owned and operated by Mike Myers...
.
Journalists on The WELL
The WELL was frequently mentioned in the media in the 1980s and 1990s, probably disproportionately to the number of users it had relative to other online systems. This has diminished but not disappeared in recent years, with other online communities becoming commonplace. This early visibility was largely the result of the early policy of providing free — comped — accounts for interesting journalists and other select members of the media. As a result, for many journalists it was their first experience of online systems and, later, the Internet, even though other systems existed. Although accounts are now seldom provided for free to journalists, there are still a sizable number on The WELL; for example columnist Jon CarrollJon Carroll
Jon Carroll is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, beginning in 1982, at that time succeeding Charles McCabe's column. He is featured on the back page of the Datebook on weekdays. Locally, he is best known for his moderate-to-liberal politics and his cat columns.Carroll was born in Los...
of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, Wendy M. Grossman
Wendy M. Grossman
Wendy M. Grossman is a journalist, blogger, and folksinger. She graduated from Cornell University in 1975 and Riverdale Country School in 1971...
of The Inquirer
The Inquirer
The Inquirer is a British technology tabloid website founded by Mike Magee after his departure from The Register in 2001. In 2006 the site was acquired by Dutch publisher Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen...
, and critic Andy Klein of Los Angeles CityBeat
Los Angeles CityBeat
Los Angeles CityBeat was an alternative weekly newspaper in Los Angeles, California, debuting June 12, 2003. The publication ceased production with the March 26, 2009 issue. LA CityBeat was available every Thursday at more than 1,500 distribution locations throughout the Los Angeles area, with an...
.
The WELL also received numerous awards in the 1980s and 1990s, including a Webby Award for online community in 1998, and an EFF Pioneer Award
EFF Pioneer Award
The EFF Pioneer Award is an annual prize for people who have made significant contributions to the empowerment of individuals in using computers. Until 1998 it was presented at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., USA. Thereafter it was presented at the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference...
in 1994.
The WELL in the news
In March 2007, the WELL was noted for refusing membership to Kevin MitnickKevin Mitnick
Kevin David Mitnick is a computer security consultant, author, and hacker. In the late 20th century, he was convicted of various computer- and communications-related crimes. At the time of his arrest, he was the most-wanted computer criminal in the United States.-Personal life:Mitnick grew up in...
, and refunding his membership fee.
Publications about The WELL
- Howard RheingoldHoward Rheingold-See also:* Collective intelligence* Information society* The WELL* Virtual community-External links:***** at TED conference** a 48MB Quicktime movie, hosted by the Internet Archive...
, The Virtual CommunityThe Virtual CommunityThe Virtual Community is a 1993 book about virtual communities by Howard Rheingold, a member of the early network system The Well. A second edition, with a new concluding chapter was published in 2000 by MIT Press.-External links:...
Perennial ISBN 0-06-097643-8 (Hardcover) — ISBN 0-262-68121-8 (2000 revised paperback edition)
- John SeabrookJohn SeabrookJohn Seabrook is an American journalist who writes about technology and popular culture. He has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1993....
, Deeper: My Two-Year Odyssey in Cyberspace Simon & SchusterSimon & SchusterSimon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
ISBN 0-684-80175-2 (Hardcover) — ISBN 0-684-83873-7 (Paperback)
- Katie HafnerKatie HafnerKatie Hafner is a journalist who writes books and articles about technology and society. She was a technology reporter at The New York Times and was a contributing editor for Newsweek...
, The WELL: A Story of Love, Death and Real Life in the Seminal Online Community Carroll & Graf Publishers ISBN 0-7867-0846-8
- Katie Hafner's book, expanded from a Wired Magazine article, chronicles the odd birth, growing pains, and interpersonal dynamics that make The WELL the unusual, perhaps unique, online community that it is.
- Fred TurnerFred Turner (academic)Fred Turner is an Assistant Professor at Stanford University in the Department of Communication and the acclaimed author of two books:* From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network and the Rise of Digital Utopianism...
, From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism University of Chicago PressUniversity of Chicago PressThe University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
ISBN 0-226-81741-5
- "When the Counterculture met the New Economy: The WELL and the Origins of Virtual Community", Technology and Culture, Vol.46, No.3 (July, 2005), pp. 485–512.
- Roy AscottRoy AscottRoy Ascott is a British artist and theorist, who works with cybernetics and telematics. He is President of the Planetary Collegium.- Biography :...
and Carl Eugene Loeffler, Guest Editors, Connectivity: Art and Interactive Telecommunications, Leonardo 24:2, 1991. Includes documentation of early artworks on ArtCom Electronic Network, a WELL Conference and archive started in 1986 by Carl Loeffler and Fred Truck. Artworks created or published on ACEN on the WELL included John Cage, (The First Meeting of the Satie Society) Judy MalloyJudy MalloyJudy Malloy is a poet whose works embrace the intersection of hypernarrative, magic realism, and information art. Beginning with Uncle Roger in 1986, Malloy has composed works in both new media literature and hypertext fiction...
, ( Uncle Roger, Bad Information, Thirty Minutes in the Late Afternoon) Jim Rosenberg,(Diagram Series) and Sonya Rapoport. (Digital Mudra Online) Connectivity: Art and Interactive Telecommunications includes papers about art on the WELL by Ron Buck, ("Poetry Online") Carl Loeffler, ("Modem Dialing Out") Anna Couey, ("Art Works as Organic Communications Systems") Roger Malina, ("FineArt Forum and F.A.S.T.: Experiments in Electronic Publishing in the Arts) Gil MinaMora, ("Hidden Bearers: An Exquisite Corpse Online") and Judy Malloy, ("Uncle Roger, an Online Narrabase").
See also
- DigeratiDigeratiThe digerati are the elite of the computer industry and online communities. The word is a portmanteau, derived from "digital" and "literati", and reminiscent of the earlier coinage glitterati...
- William H. CalvinWilliam H. CalvinWilliam H. Calvin, Ph.D., is an American theoretical neurophysiologist and professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is a well-known popularizer of neuroscience and evolutionary biology, including the hybrid of these two fields, neural Darwinism...
- Global Business NetworkGlobal Business NetworkGlobal Business Network, or GBN, is a strategy consulting firm and member of Monitor Group, that helps businesses, NGOs, and governments use scenario planning to plan for multiple possible futures....
- Cyberia (book)Cyberia (book)Cyberia is a book by Douglas Rushkoff, published in 1994. The book discusses many different ideas revolving around technology, drugs and subcultures. Rushkoff takes a Tom Wolfe Electric Kool Aid Acid Test style , as he actively becomes a part of the people and culture that he is writing about...
- Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
- Michael Gruber (author)Michael Gruber (author)Michael Gruber is an author living in Seattle, Washington. He attended Columbia University and received his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Miami...
- Peter LudlowPeter LudlowPeter Ludlow , who also writes under the name Urizenus Sklar, is a professor of philosophy at Northwestern University. Before moving to Northwestern, Ludlow taught at University of Toronto, the University of Michigan, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook...
- Tom MandelTom Mandel (futurist)Tom Mandel was born in Chicago, Illinois He served in the United States Marine Corps in the Vietnam War. In 1972, he was the first graduate of the "Futures program" at the University of Hawaii. He then attended San Jose State College...
- Douglas RushkoffDouglas RushkoffDouglas Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, and his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems.Rushkoff is most frequently regarded as a media...
- John SeabrookJohn SeabrookJohn Seabrook is an American journalist who writes about technology and popular culture. He has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1993....
- Gail WilliamsGail WilliamsGail Ann Williams has been the director of The WELL since 1998. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in the 1970s and got involved in political theater as both a creative and management member of the Plutonium Players troupe...
- Declan McCullaghDeclan McCullaghDeclan McCullagh is an American journalist and columnist for CBSNews.com. He specializes in computer security and privacy issues. He is notable, among other things, for his early involvement with the media interpretation of U.S...
- CIXCIXCIX was one of the earliest British Internet service providers. Founded in 1983 by Frank and Sylvia Thornley, it began as a FidoNet bulletin board system, but in 1987 was relaunched commercially as CIX...
External links
- The WELL
- The WELL Gopher — retained as a text museum but now served via HTTP.
- Wired news: Salon buys The WELL
- Wired magazine: "The Epic Saga of the WELL" by Katie HafnerKatie HafnerKatie Hafner is a journalist who writes books and articles about technology and society. She was a technology reporter at The New York Times and was a contributing editor for Newsweek...
- The WELL: Small Town on the Internet Highway System by Cliff Figallo
- C|net News.com: "The WELL celebrates 20th birthday"
- Net Wars at The Inquirer: "You own your own 20th anniversary"
- C|net News.com: "Salon places The WELL up for sale"