I. PREFACE

Welcome to the 21st Century. You are a Netizen (Net Citizen), and you exist as a citizen of the world thanks to the global connectivity that the Net makes possible. You consider everyone as your compatriot. You physically live in one country but you are in contact with much of the world via the global computer network. Virtually you live next door to every other single netizen in the world. Geographical separation is replaced by existence in the same virtual space.

The situation I describe is only a prediction of the future, but a large part of the necessary infrastructure currently exists. The Net - or the Internet, BITNET, FIDOnet, other physical networks, Usenet, VMSnet, and other logical networks and so on - has rapidly grown to cover all of the developed countries in the world. The only parts of the world yet to be connected via E-mail are parts of Africa, Asia Minor, and South East Asia. (See the Internet Society NEWS Vol 2 No 1 back page for reference.) Every day more computers attach to the existing networks and every new computer adds to the user base - at least ten million people are interconnected today. Why do all these people "waste" their time sitting in front of a computer typing away? They have very good reason to! Ten million people plus have good reason not to be wrong.

We are seeing a revitalization of society. The frameworks are being redesigned from the bottom up. A new more democratic world is becoming possible. According to one user, the Net has "immeasurably increased the quality of my life." The Net seems to open a new lease on life for people. Social connections which were never before possible, or which were relatively hard to achieve, are now facilitated by the Net. Geography and time are no longer boundaries. Social limitations and conventions no longer prevent potential friendships or partnerships. In this manner netizens are meeting other netizens from far-away and close by that they might never have met without the Net.

A new world of connections between people - either privately from individual to individual or publicly from individuals to the collective mass of many on the net - is possible. The old model of central distribution of information from the Network Broadcasting or Publication Company is being questioned/challenged. The top-down model of information being distributed by a few for mass-consumption is no longer the only News. Netnews brings the power of the reporter to the netizen. People now have the ability to broadcast his or her observations or questions around the world and other people respond. The computer networks form a new grassroots connection that allows the excluded sections of society to have a voice. This new medium is unprecedented. Previous grassroots media have existed for much smaller-sized selections of people. The model of the Net proves the old way does not have to be the only way of networking. The Net does not abolish the idea of networking - or making connections with strangers that prove to be advantageous to one or both parties.

The complete connection of the body of citizens of the world the Net makes possible does not exist as of today, and it will definitely be a fight to make access to the Net open and available to all. However, in the future we might be seeing the possible expansion of what it means to be a social animal. Practically every single individual on the Net today is available to every other person on the Net. Someone might suggest this universal connection currently exists with the telephone network. However the telephone companies charge more for the further you have to call. Use of the Net is currently unmetered. International connection coexists on the same level with local connection. Also the computer networks allow a more advanced connection between the people who are communicating.

In order to locate someone's phone number, you need to either know their name, or be given the number personally. With computer-communication systems, information or thoughts are connected to people's names and electronic-mail addresses. On the Net, one can connect to others who have similar interests or whose thought processes they enjoy.

Connections not before possible, imaginable or feasible, whether global (across the world) or just around the corner (locally), are now happening everyday. People can meet others on a global or local basis based on their interests and beliefs, rather than only through personal introductions and pre-Net social networks.

Netizens make it a point to be helpful and friendly - if they feel it to be worthwhile. Many Netizens feel they have an obligation to be helpful and answer queries and followup on discussions to put their opinion into the pot of opinions. Over a period of time the voluntary contributions to the Net have built it into a useful connection to other people around the world. Many people who replied to my "Is the Net a Source of Social/Econ. Wealth?" post responded to my point calling the net a source of accurate information. People corrected me and said it was mainly a source of opinions. However, the reader can train himself to figure out the accurate information from the breathe of opinions. I hoped to give an example of this by grouping together in one document a wide sample of the responses to my research. The Net can be a helpful medium to understand the world. Only by seeing all points of view can any one person attempt to figure out either their own position on a topic or the truth.

Net Society differs from off-line society by welcoming intellectual activity. People are encouraged to have things on their mind and to present those ideas to the Net. People are allowed to be intellectually interesting and interested. This intellectual activity forms a major part of the on-line information that is carried by the various computer networks. Netizens can interact with other people to help add to or alter that information. Brain-storming between varieties of people produces robust thinking. Information is no longer a fixed commodity or resource on the Nets. It is constantly being added to and improved collectively. The Net is a grand intellectual and social commune in the spirit of the collectivity from the origins of human society. Netizens working together continual expand the store of information worldwide. One person called the Net an untapped resource because it provides an alternative to the normal channels and ways of doing things. The Net allows for the meeting of minds to form and develop ideas. It brings people's thinking processes out of isolation. Every user of the Net gains the role of being special and useful. The fact that every user has his own opinions and interests adds to the general body of specialized knowledge on the Net. Each Netizen thus becomes a special resource valuable to the Net. Each user contributes to the whole intellectual and social value and possibilities of the Net.