Life and death on the Well

Author Katie Hafner says the online community made history -- from a legendary fight against anti-porn hysteria to the simple task of providing information on head lice.

By Janelle Brown

Apr 17, 2001 | As a Well member I may be biased, but I think it's fair to say that the Well (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Links) is not your average online community. Tens of thousands of members have passed through the Well over the years, but for its core constituency the Well has provided a close social network for more than a decade. Home to ex-hippies, academics, New Agers, baby boomers, oddballs, the tech-savvy and the simply intellectually curious, the Well has welcomed diversity in humans and ideas.

It is impossible to fully capture the intricate community lore of the Well and all its stories, but in her new book, "The Well: A Story of Love, Death and Real Life in the Seminal Online Community," New York Times reporter Katie Hafner delivers the Well's essential experience. Based on her Wired cover story from 1997 Hafner's book tracks the social history of the Well from its inception in 1985 through its acquisition by Salon.com in April 1999.

Although the book is ostensibly about whether you can, as Hafner puts it, "build a community and a business as one and the same," "The Well" works best as a story about relationships. Hafner skillfully draws the human side of this community through the life of Tom Mandel, a mercurial, controversial and beloved Well member who lived (and died) a very public life in the Well's forums. Through extensive interviews and hundreds of reprinted Well posts, Hafner turns Mandel's battles with both his Well girlfriend and lung cancer into a symbol of the impact the insular community has had on the daily lives of its most devoted members.

As Hafner puts it, "The Well didn't mirror reality. It was reality." Salon Technology spoke with Hafner about the process behind her book and the Well's community legacy.

When did you first get on the Well, and why?

I was working on my first book, "Cyberpunk," about computer hackers. I was spending a lot of time in Berlin and I needed a way to get online there. The Well was one way to do it; this was in 1988. I got on the Well in January of 1989. It's the account I used for years.

But I never really spent time in conferences because I was too shy and intimidated; it's all cliquish. What would I say and how would people react? There is a whole self-selecting thing about the Well.

Where do you go on the Well?

I go into the parenting conference; I remember when I thought my kid had lice, there was a lice discussion. It was incredibly helpful. And when I was looking for an apartment in Berkeley, I went into the Berkeley conference and posted quite a bit. Everybody was so nice.

I don't know what my problem was about participating, because every time I have participated people have been incredibly nice. But I'm shy. I think a lot of reporters are shy.

One of the big reasons that I haven't spent a lot of time on the Well interacting is that I don't have the time. I have a job and I am always either working on a book or a magazine piece, and I have a family. And a lot of stuff I do [when I'm not working] isn't computer-related just to save my sanity. I don't want to spend any more time in front of a computer than I have to.

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