Netlife

The central question around which this book revolves are whether or not communication through technology constitutes so-called real interaction and whether the establishment of real community is possible solely through electronic technology. Here real is defined as meaningful to the participants, as meaningful as face-to-face interaction, and the special case under consideration is communication through the computer Matrix. At present there is not one system, technical or cultural, which can accurately be called the internet. A more accurate statement is that there are multiple systems and purposes within the rubric of internetworking. This book examines IRC, Usenet, and Fidonet for three main reasons: First, these communication processes are multi-user and two-way. Second they are publicly accessible through local gateway providers. Third, they are non-fantasy based.