The Well and the history of the net: Technium considers

Another nifty blog entry by Kevin Kelly, thinking about the role of the WELL in the history of the internet.  One key point is the focus on, and durability of, the You Own Your Own Words concept.

One caveat: the post needs to recognize the role of Usenet.  Otherwise it sounds like the WELL did things in a vaccuum.

Comments

[Gardner]

Good point about Usenet. For many years, Usenet was the part of the Internet that mattered most to me. Deja News was a godsend. I still check the newsgroups (now Google Groups) from time to time.

[Bryan Alexander]

Indeed, Gardner. I always raise Usenet when I discuss social software.

Again, this reminds me of Second Life. The long, rich history of previous virtual environment projects is nearly invisible in SL discourse: MOOs, MUDs, Activeworlds, etc.