Managing the Virtual Commons

Kullock and Smith’s article and the cooperation and conflict in computer communities dealt mainly with the advantages, and the problematic issues that came with increased communication through cyber networking. The Usenet, an early 80’s alternate for the Arpanet linked together thousands of discussion groups together to create an information exchanging world. One interconnected with several hosts, leaving no central authority, no commercial funding, and limited control.

I find the Usenet to be so interesting because it had an existing element that nobody had ever seen before. That is the responsibility of the user or member, to stay true to the purpose of this forum of networking, to share and gather information without overstepping ones boundaries. No free riding, no biting information, and no uninformative voicing of one’s opinion. I look at it as nobody can be a leader or a follower in this kind of community. Everybody must be a player, no more, no less.

I find the Usenet to be very ahead of its time in the negative sense. That is, for its time and place I don’t see much use for the common person to have a hand in it. With the responsibility to respond to others needs, stay on topic, and post responses with an educational and professional tone, I find it’s an engine that would have run better if left strictly for the scholarly or journalistic. It would have left groups smaller with more common interests, and the need for ‘kill files’ wouldn’t even be necessary. I’m taking into consideration that this was nearly 10 -20 years ago that the Usenet was prominent. Fast forwarding to my generation, the WEB is so WORLD-WIDE, that social forums for voicing personal opinion is more acceptable.

This article relies heavily on the introduction where they talk about how computer mediated communication systems are believed to have such powerful affects on social relationships. How networked communication dissolves social hierarchies, candor and merit are of higher encouragement. That diffidently holds water on the professional level. But on personal and social grounds, i can’t say I fully agree. Even Professor Galley talked about somebody she interviewed, and there limited respect from fellow discussion members due to her being a woman. I know that when I look at my generation, face-book, AIM, and text messaging has diluted our ability to communicate to each other openly and honestly, without checking up on their social profiles to know where they stand on a social level of acceptability. Anybody agree?