Remembering Netizens: An interview with Ronda Hauben, co-author of Netizens: On the history and impact of Usenet and the Internet (1997)

TL;DR

This paper reflects on the history and impact of the book 'Netizens' and Usenet, highlighting the evolution of online communities, their societal role, and the challenges posed by commercialization and privatization.

Contribution

It provides a retrospective analysis of 'Netizens' and Usenet, emphasizing the conceptualization of netizens as contributory citizens and the effects of Internet commercialization.

Findings

Netizens as contributory citizens of the Internet

Usenet's role in online community development

Impact of commercialization on online communities

Abstract

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.