Netizens, Michael and Ronda Hauben's
foundational treatise on Usenet and the Internet, was first published in
print 25 years ago. In this piece, we trace the history and impact of the
book and of Usenet itself, contextualising them within the contemporary and
modern-day scholarship on virtual communities, online culture, and Internet
history. We discuss the Net as a tool of empowerment, and touch on the
social, technical, and economic issues related to the maintenance of shared
network infrastructures and to the preservation and commodification of Usenet
archives. Our interview with Ronda Hauben offers a retrospective look at the
development of online communities, their impact, and how they are studied.
She recounts her own introduction to the online world, as well as the impetus
and writing process for Netizens. She presents Michael Hauben's conception of
“netizens” as contributory citizens of the Net (rather than mere
users of it) and the “electronic commons” they built up, and argues that
this collaborative and collectivist model has been overwhelmed and endangered
by the privatisation and commercialisation of the Internet and its
communities.
@article{
miller2022remembering,
author = {Tristan Miller and Camille Paloque-Bergès and Avery
Dame-Griff},
title = {Remembering {Netizens}: {An} Interview with {Ronda}
{Hauben}, Co-Author of {Netizens}: {On} the History and Impact of {Usenet}
and the {Internet} (1997)},
journal = {Internet Histories: Digital Technology, Culture and
Society},
year = {2022},
issn = {2470-1483},
doi = {10.1080/24701475.2022.2123120},
note = {Print version to appear},
}
