Call for Participation!
Created | Updated Apr 21, 2005
What does it mean to own virtual space? Who has the right to determine
how a virtual space is used: is it those who developed it, those who use
it, or those who own the computers it runs on? And what does development
even mean in this context; is it raising the funds, doing the coding,
working out the bugs, developing content, or developing social and
cultural frameworks? Or is it all of these? These are the issues I'm
trying to explore in a Ph.D. paper tentatively titled 'Settlers of the
Virtual: Community, Territoriality and Ownership in Internet
Communities'.
When I first conceived this idea there was only one reason I thought
about and cared about these issues - my experiences on h2g2. Who can
remember the 'my home' versus 'my space' debates; the commercialisation
issue, about adding Amazon.com links to threads; the communitarian versus
guide researcher threads; the Zaphodista
movement; the FOOP; the move to the BBC and
somewhat stricter content guidelines? Moreover, who can forget them? These
and countless other moments have shaped our community and our perceptions
of it. I want to push some of these important reflections out into the
greater world, to let those who are working on policies and plans to
create or govern Internet spaces be privy to the particular insights the
h2g2 community has garnered through the very experience of being there in
the trenches.
So I'm putting out a call. This is a call for reflections, memories and
poignant moments in our collective history that you think contributed to
the ongoing h2g2 dialogue on ownership and community. This seems like a
good time for reflection - to pause and consider - as another new
iteration of the story that brought us together looms on the horizon. With
a new generation of virtual settlers perhaps paddling along in its
wake...
