Subject: MediaMOO Forum: Should virtual communities be democracies?

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 16:58:26 -0800

Please come to an semisynchronous forum:
		  SHOULD VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES BE DEMOCRACIES?
				       
				   MediaMOO
		       purple-crayon.media.mit.edu 8888
			    Tuesday, February 2nd
			     9 pm to 10:30 pm EST

I once made the mistake of posting a message entitled "three procedural
proposals" to a privately-run mailing list.  The moderator of the list posted
an angry reply: "This list is not and never has been run by committee.  It
couldn't continue to exist if it were.  THIS IS NOT A DEMOCRACY."

I responded "Apparently not," and then received a mailbox full of angry
messages from members of the list.  My favorite was the one accusing me of
coming to a party and telling the host what to serve!  The arguments seemed to
hinge on the fact that the moderator spent her time developing and maintaining
the list, and therefore it was hers to do with as she wishes.

Once my indignation died down, I realized that there are practical issues
which can not be ignored: democracy has a high overhead cost.  Who has the
time to hold a virtual office?  Who has the time to run for virtual office?
Who has the time to even read the position papers of those running to make an
informed choice?

In founding a virtual community, one person or group of people invest time and
physical resources.  But as time goes on, others contribute significantly.  Do
they accrue any rights?  Are there any contracts, implicit or explicit, formed
between founders of a community and users?

Does it matter who is paying for the service?  Are the rights of a user of a
commercial service like Prodigy or Compuserve different from users of an MU*
running at the indulgence of a university?

A SEMISYNCHRONOUS FORUM
On MediaMOO, we will have an exploration of these issues in a
"semi-synchronous forum."  We will meet in "the narrative intelligence salon"
on MediaMOO.  Participants are encouraged to discuss the issues through both
synchronous conversation in the room, and asynchronous conversation on a MOO
mailing list "*democracy."

ABOUT MEDIAMOO
MediaMOO is a text-based virtual reality environment (MU*) designed to enhance
professional community amongst media researchers.  You are cordially invited
to come join MediaMOO, regardless of whether you will be able to attend the
forum!

PRACTICAL INFORMATION
To connect to MediaMOO, type:
telnet purple-crayon.media.mit.edu 8888
connect guest

Once there, type "help democracy" for information on how to participate in the
forum.  Typing just "help" provides more general information.

To get your own character, please send us the following information:

*  A brief description of your research interests
*  The name you want for your character
*  An alternative name, if that name is taken
*  Whether you want your real name to be known

ANONYMOUS AND IDENTIFIED CHARACTERS
Each character has a "character name" and may optionally have a
"real_name."  For example, "Amy" is a character whose real_name is
"Amy Bruckman."  On the other hand, "jaime" has no real name.  Real
names don't normally appear, but can be seen with the @whois command.
For example, if you type: 
@whois Amy

The system responds:
Amy's real name is "Amy Bruckman".
Amy can be reached via email as:  [email-masked]

However, if you type:
@whois jaime

The system responds:
jaime has no real name.

Only janitors (administrators of the MOO) can set or change real names.  It's
possible to fool people about who you are in many ways, but real names are
reliable.

You may have an anonymous character, an identified character, or both.
Typically, people give their identified character their real name, and give
their anonymous character a fanciful, made-up name.

CHARACTERS FOR NON-RESEARCHERS
We are not a completely open MOO.  Because our goal is to enhance
community amongst media researchers, you must make some statement of
your research interests in order to be given a character.  Acceptable
research will generously interpreted.

There is one exception to this rule: current members of the Media Lab may
request accounts for others who are not doing any form of research.  In such
cases, email requesting the account must come from the Media Labber on the
other person's behalf.

SUMMARY
Character creation requests should include:
*  A brief description of your research interests
*  The name you want for your character
*  An alternative name, if that name is taken
*  Whether you want your real name to be known

And should be sent to:
[email-masked]