The Well: A Story of Love, Death & Real Life in the Seminal Online Community

by Katie Hafner

Presents the dramatic story of the pioneering virtual community that changed the way the world communicates, conceived in 1984, and implemented during the end of the 1980s, and available to "Well-beings" who participated in on-line discussions on a myriad of topics.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Technology, Internet

208 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2001

About the author

Katie Hafner was on staff at The New York Times for ten years, where she remains a frequent contributor, writing on healthcare and technology. She is the author of six works of nonfiction covering a diverse range of topics, including the origins of the Internet, computer hackers, German reunification, and the pianist Glenn Gould.

O Magazine named her memoir - Mother Daughter Me – one of "Ten Titles to Pick Up Now."

Her first novel, The Boys, will be published July 26, 2022 by Spiegel & Grau.

Reviews

[Tom Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to think about this book a little before reviewing. To be continued.

I ordered this book because I am interested in the creation and lifecycle of Communities, both on and offline. I remember the beginnings of the Web, Arpanet, IRC, EIES Network and The Well, participating on EIES briefly in the early ‘80’s.

Hafner does a good job of highlighting the technological issues facing users of these early networks while addressing the human component that largely determined their fate. In fact, if anything, her tale quite often devolves into the soap opera that The Well became during many of its exciting and troubled periods.

The subtitle of the book should have alerted me to her approach but I still was expecting more of a combined techno- and socio-logical history of the experiment than she delivered. It may be a comfort to know that regardless of how much technology Humans incorporate into their social and intellectual lives, they still suffer the slings and arrows of the Human Condition.

Another enjoyable feature of the book was the mention of the activities of a number of the seminal characters of that late ‘70’s - early ‘80’s period like Stewart Brand, Howard Rheingold and John Perry Barlow. If you wanted to see where tech was going back then, those were the people you followed.

This is a very short work, filled with some fun stories, that humanizes the work and obsessions of an era that underlies today’s all pervasive Online existence. I found it interesting. You might as well.

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This slim volume gives a narrative history of the WELL (an early dial-up forum), focusing on aspects of community and personalities. The medium - text base and occasionally arcane - also plays a part. Invites comparison to other forums and conferences.

This is one of two books I started on the same day that start with the announcement of a death. Both were on my reading list - this one since 2014 - and both are quick reads. This is non-fiction, and I would guess will be re-released and/or expanded in a few years for a 20th anniversary. The WELL still exists, and wikipedia can give you a lot more information.

I enjoyed this history and the technical aspects; I ran a free BBS in this same time frame. I see some interesting comparisons to PLATO, and The Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture (which was a better book).

[Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a quick read, but it tells a long story. The Well is one of the earliest and longest-running online communities, and I've been a member for more than 10 years. Hafner's writing reads like much of the writing in the Well: personal, insightful, and very human. She looks at the evolution of the business, as well as some of the highlights -- and low points -- of the relationships among members. Even the darkest of days and most difficult situations is addressed with grace and empathy. Of interest to members, online historians, and community organizations everywhere. An important chapter in the development of the Net!

[Eamonn McHugh-Roohr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, focused story of an early online community, sometimes in it's own words. Seems to be trying to answer the question "what is a community?" or "can online communities be communities?"

From the perspective of a reader twenty years later in a world full of social networks, this is still fairly interesting because you can see very similar patterns play out; there are trolls, reviled moderators, consternation, drama, but also excellence-people helping each other out of jams, people treating each other with genuine kindness, and even mourning each other.

There are two contradictory premises at work. One is that The Well was truly special and something that you can't replicate by creating a threaded forum. The other is that The Well was promoted by media savvy Stuart Brand and Howard Rhinegold et al as this utopian place which can never be replicated. Clearly, the former is the case. I would have liked a bit more clarity around just how similar (or different from) The Well was to the BBS scene which existed at the same time. And of course it also resembles web forums which came later and now social media like Reddit. If there was something truly special here, I fail to be convinced.

[Paul Knighton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katie Hafner captures here, however briefly, how "The Well" started - almost as a millionaire's experiment in virtual communities, developed - with many twists and turns, evolved dynamically acceptable behaviour, repeatedly sought its place in an ever changing world, ultimately becoming ever less relevant until its end.

"The Well" was the first significant and popular virtual community accessible to non-academics and non-military, even if initially there was a high cost of access (both the hardware and technical skills). It attracted mainly professionals and intellectuals to begin, creating wonderfully diverse conferences for discussion. The community that developed became something many sought to reproduce elsewhere, however this often failed or became something very different.

The book explains how "The Well" was a thing of its time, despite the limited technology, and impacted so many people's lives. It almost became (and remains) more influential by the example it represented vs how it ended.

So many aspects of today's virtual, online communities (social network) take for granted so much that had to develop somewhere for the first time before gaining more widespread acceptance as the Internet became every more democratised and accessible to all levels of society.

Facinating.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A narrative perspective of one of the first online communities. Hafner's story of the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link takes closely details the lives of the people (as opposed to an events-focused chronology) who made up the community, with a focus on Tom Mandel and several other important figures that shapped the Well's history. The work was first published in shorter form as an article in Wired magazine. A clipping pace makes this a quick read that tech junkies will enjoy

[Sari Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look inside the online community. I found it particularly appealing because I was acquainted with a number of the people mentioned, so I was able to relate to the times and events from a more personal perspective.

[John Stepper · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much potential but the author never really captures why a small on-line community ever gained the reputation it has. The examples verge on high schoolish.

Could have been so much more...