Is anyone aware of any published research looking at FIDONET communities? While FIDO is a dying technology it was once (80's) the 'alternative Internet' and retains a strong following in Germany and Russia where it remains a free alterative to the commercial Internet. Fido is an interesting case study as being a member of FIDO required one to subscribe to a set of rules, and actively participate in the technical functioning of the networks itself. I conducted extensive research on the Russian Fidonet (and internet) during the mid 1990's for my doctoral thesis (some of which is published here http://www.unrisd.org/infotech/conferen/russian/toc.htm) and I am looking at updating the research in anticipation of publishing the broader findings. Any tips, citations or general advice (or anecdotes) would be very welcome. Rafal Rohozinski rar20@cus.cam.ac.uk Cambridge University
One source of information on Fidonet that comes to mind is a doctoral dissertation in sociology which compares aspects of virtual communities in Fidonet, IRC, and Usenet. Surratt, C. G. (1996). The sociology of everyday life in computer-mediated communities (Doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University, 1996). Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(03-A), 1346. Hope this helps. Janet Sternberg, Ph.D. http://homepages.nyu.edu/~js15
This page has some information on the history of Fidonet, and several links to good Fidonet resources: http://livinginternet.com/u/ui_fidonet.htm Cheers, Bill At 05:20 PM 5/14/02 -0400, you wrote:
Is anyone aware of any published research looking at FIDONET communities? While FIDO is a dying technology it was once (80's) the 'alternative Internet' and retains a strong following in Germany and Russia where it remains a free alterative to the commercial Internet. Fido is an interesting case study as being a member of FIDO required one to subscribe to a set of rules, and actively participate in the technical functioning of the networks itself. I conducted extensive research on the Russian Fidonet (and internet) during the mid 1990's for my doctoral thesis (some of which is published here http://www.unrisd.org/infotech/conferen/russian/toc.htm) and I am looking at updating the research in anticipation of publishing the broader findings. Any tips, citations or general advice (or anecdotes) would be very welcome.
Rafal Rohozinski rar20@cus.cam.ac.uk Cambridge University
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participants (3)
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J. Sternberg -
Rafal Rohozinski -
William Stewart