<nettime> A sad loss

[ronda@ais.org (Ronda Hauben)]

I am writing about the sudden death on June 27, 2001 of Michael Hauben.  
Michael Hauben was co-author of the book "Netizens:  On the History and
Impact of Usenet and the Internet" published in an English and Japanese
edition and also available online.

Through his interactive online research Michael coined the term "Netizen"
and introduced it into popular use.

In his 1992 article "The Net and Netizens: The Impact the Net Has on
People's Lives" Michael wrote "Welcome to the 21st Century. You are a
Netizen (a 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."

Through Michael's writing online the term spread around the world.

In the Preface to Netizens, Michael wrote

"  My initial research concerned the origins and development of the global
discussion forum Usenet....I wanted to explore the larger Net and what it
was and its significance. This is when my research uncovered the remaining
details that helped me to recognize the emergence of Netizens. There are
people online who actively contribute towards the development of the Net.
These people understand the value of collective work and the communal
aspects of public communications. These are the people who discuss and
debate topics in a constructive manner, who e-mail answers to people and
provide help to new-comers, who maintain FAQ files and other public
information repositories, who maintain mailing lists, and so on.  These
are people who discuss the nature and role of this new communications
medium. These are the people who act as citizens of the Net."

He has been an active member of the online community since the early
1980s.

When she learned of Michael's death, Laura Gould, one of the founding
member of the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility wrote "I so
regret the death of the original Netizen."

"Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet" was
published by the IEEE Computer Society in 1997 and also appears in an
online edition at http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120

Sadly

Ronda

ronda@ais.org






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