Reaching back a bit, Janet Sternberg wrote on 11/18/01:
In my doctoral dissertation, "Misbehavior in Cyber Places: The Regulation of Online Conduct in Virtual Communities on the Internet" (completed in September and forthcoming from UMI), I concluded that gathering for social interaction in online communities and participating actively in the regulation of online conduct may help promote a new sense of social place and civic concern affecting people's everyday behavior and communication, both online and off.
I'm curious what sort of observations would lead to that conclusion. The conclusion does not seem untenable, but nor does it seem seem falsifiable. Was it even possible to have reached a different conclusion, given your interests? Can you imagene facts which would have showed soemthing else, such as that gathering online would *demote* a new sense of place? Regards, Ellis