Is There a There in Cyberspace?

Barlow, John Perry. Is There A There in Cyberspace? http://www.eff.org/Misc/Publications/John_Perry_Barlow/HTML/utne_community.html

Mr. Barlow takes us along on a journey he has traveled, "from pushing cows around in a remote Wyoming ranch to my present occupation...a Cyberspace Cadet". He described the hardships of trying to maintain a family farm while the economy turned from a rural to an urban one. People followed the jobs and he felt that we lost much of our 'community' way of life in the process. As he struggled to keep afloat, he was able to make a living writing songs for the Grateful Dead and made a name for himself with the band's nomadic followers, the Deadheads. It was during this time that he discovered the online community of the Deadheads and other Grateful Dead followers. He lamented their lack of a physical presence, he celebrated the fact that "they could put down roots which could not be ripped out by forces of economic history". Since that time he has devoted much of his time to these "communities of Cyberspace", but still felt the lack of physical connection a small community gave him. Then the story takes on real texture. Mr Barlow shares what he feels has been the greatest tragedy of his life. He unexpectedly lost the "great love of his life". It was at this time that he felt an overwhelming need for a community that could engulf him and carry him when he could not bear to walk on his own. It was the Cybernet community that was there for him. His eulogy, posted online, was reposted around the world and the unbelievable outpouring of genuine empathy, sharing and goodwill from those he might have otherwise never heard from carried him through him tragedy.
Mr. Barlow engages us in another positive aspect of the online community. It's always hard to accept new things. We tend to see them as 'less than' the 'real thing'. We tend to see the negative about what is new and be suspect of it's real value. The internet has great potential, both for good and bad. But that potential is in everything new. The internet has the ability to reach farther than any community ever has before, and can bring people together in a way and scope that was never possible in the past. As with the proverbial step-child, when it is good it's very, very good but when it is bad, it is very bad. Then again though, "nothing tried, nothing gained".