Networks and Social Change
 
By Dr. Philip Baczewski, Acting Director of Academic
Computing & UNT BITNET INFOREP (BITNET:
AC12@UNTVM1)
 
This article appeared in the June/July/August 1991 issue of
Benchmarks (Volume 12 Number 6), the newsletter of the
University of North Texas Computing Center.
 
 
Few of us, when we sit down and type in a BITNET mail
message, are aware that we may be participating in one of the
most dramatic influences for social change since the invention
of the light bulb.  The light bulb ultimately changed the pattern
of people's lives, allowing activities which were formerly
restricted to daylight hours to be carried on independent of the
rise and set of the sun.  The "artificial" sunlight made many
things possible: the twenty-four hour operation of many
industries previously dependent upon daylight; the lighting of
cities to make streets safer to traverse after dark (at least they
used to be safer); a change in the design of office buildings
and other architectural structures; night baseball (except for
certain Chicago fans).  The popularity of the light bulb
ultimately helped spur the development of the electrical power
industry that we've become so dependent upon today.
 
Just as the light bulb changed the pattern of people's lives,
BITNET and other national and international networks are
changing the way people acquire, assimilate, and act upon
information.  For some of us, "unplugging" the wide-area
network would have almost as great an impact as pulling the
power plug.  Networks have the unique ability to bring
information on a wide variety of topics to a diverse group of
people.  Information is disseminated much more quickly than
by traditional print methods.  The information is available from
a wider range of sources.  BITNET and other mailing lists
have become information islands around which "electronic"
societies have developed.  These on-line social groups develop
their own conventions and customs, foster relationships, and
even see their own share of conflict and controversy.
 
An interesting reflection of the growth and impact of BITNET
can be found in the nature of the mailing list topics found in
the file LISTSERV GROUPS.  In 1987, there were about
ninety three lists documented in LISTSERV GROUPS and of
the ones which were not directly related to the BITNET
network itself, thirty five percent were on topics not directly
related to computing.  In the latest version of that file (at least
the latest available from LISTSERV@BITNIC), the number of
lists has grown to about 144, thirty eight percent of which are
on topics not directly related to computing.  The word about
BITNET is obviously spreading to more and more disciplines,
and not just scientific disciplines.  List topics include
genealogy, the humanities, philosophy, intercultural and
interpersonal communication, teaching english, health issues,
environmental issues... you get the idea.
 
The interconnection of BITNET with the Internet and other
wide-area networks has created a mechanism to quickly convey
information to a large number of people.  This sometimes has
a direct effect in spurring social action. Probably the best
example of this is the recent case of the "infamous" Lotus
Development Corp. "Marketplace: Households" database
reported on in the January, 1991 issue of Benchmarks.(1)
Lotus was planning to release a database on CD-ROM which
would contain information on 120 million U.S. consumers,
including purchasing habits, marital status, neighborhood, and
income level.  The database was to be priced at $695.00,
enabling widespread availability of its information to small and
large businesses. This product was of concern to privacy
advocates and others, since Lotus would not let people
examine and make corrections to their entries prior to release
of the information.
 
Word of the Lotus product quickly spread throughout BITNET
and Internet mailing lists and discussion groups.  Partly as a
result of this network communication, Lotus received 30,000
letters and calls and, in late January, decided to drop plans to
market the database.(2) While not all who learned of the Lotus
product were informed directly via a wide-area network, many
were probably informed indirectly.  For example, the article in
the January Benchmarks was based upon material received
from network mailing lists.
 
You may not feel like a revolutionary when you use BITNET,
but you are indeed a part of a growing population who have
access to international information resources.  As wide-area
networks move out of the commercial and educational realm
and into individual households, we can expect an even greater
impact of this relatively new form of communication.
Remember, the next time you log on and send a BITNET
message which is "gatewayed" to the internet and sent on to
Australia, that's not just a message you are sending; it's a part
of social history.
 
 
(1) "New Lotus Product Deemed
Invasion of Privacy by Some," Benchmarks, Volume 12, Num
ber 1, January, 1991.
(2) "Lotus Kills Consumer Database
Project," Dallas Times Herald, January 29, 1991.
 
 
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