Cyber-places

We can build on this point by looking at a number of “communities” that are constituted differently and that constitute different forms of life, and by considering what makes these differences possible.

America Online

America Online (AOL) is an online service provider—the largest in the world with some twelve million subscribers in 1998.¹ With twice the population of Massachusetts (at least), AOL describes itself as a “community.” A large community perhaps, but a community nonetheless.

This community has a constitution—not in the sense of a written document (though there is that as well), but in the sense of a way of life that defines life for those who live there. Its founding vision was that community would make this place sing. So from its start, AOL’s emphasis has been on enabling people to interact, through chat, bulletin boards, and e-mail. Earlier providers, obsessed with providing content or advertising, limited or ignored the possibilities for interaction and exchange, but AOL saw interaction as the stuff that makes cyberspace different. It built itself on building a community, establishing itself as a place where people could say what they wanted.²

This interaction is governed by the rules of the place. Some of these rules are formal, others customary. Among the formal are express terms to which every member subscribes upon joining AOL. These terms regulate a wide range of behaviors in this space, including the behavior of AOL members anywhere on the Internet.³

Increasingly, these rules have become controversial. AOL policies have been called “Big Brother” practices. Arguments that get heated produce exchanges that are rude. But rudeness, or offensiveness, is not permitted in AOL’s community. When these exchanges are expunged, claims of “censorship” arise.⁴

My aim here, however, is not to criticize these rules of “netiquette.” AOL also has other rules that regulate AOL members—rules expressed not in contracts but rather through the very architectures of the space. These rules constitute the most important part of AOL’s constitution, yet they are probably the part considered last when we think about what regulates behavior in this cyber-place.

So consider some examples:

As a member of AOL you can be any one of five people. This is just one amazing feature of the space. When you start an account on AOL, you have the right to establish up to five identities, through five different “screen names” that in effect establish five different accounts. Some users, of course, use the five screen names to give other family members access to AOL. But not everyone uses an AOL account like this. Think about the single woman, signing up for her first AOL account. AOL gives her up to five identities that she can define as she wishes—five different personae she can use in cyberspace.

Footnotes

¹ See AOL, “About the Company: Profile,” available at http://web.archive.org/web/19990202213639/www.aol.com/corp/profile/. Edit Delete

² See Kara Swisher, Aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads, and Made Millions in the War for the Web (New York: Times Business, 1998), 65. Edit Delete

³ As stated in AOL’s Terms of Service (TOS): “As an AOL member you are required to follow our TOS no matter where you are on the Internet.” Some of the other terms of service include the following rules:“Language: Mild expletives and nonsexual anatomical references are allowed, but strong vulgar language, crude or explicit sexual references, hate speech, etc., are not. If you see it, report it at Keyword: Notify AOL.Nudity: Photos containing revealing attire or limited nudity in a scientific or artistic context are okay in some places (not all). Partial or full frontal nudity is not okay. If you see it, report it at Keyword: Notify AOL.Sex/Sensuality: There is a difference between affection and vulgarity. There is also a difference between a discussion of the health or emotional aspects of sex using appropriate language, and more crude conversations about sex. The former is acceptable, the latter is not. For example, in a discussion about forms of cancer, the words breast or testicular would be acceptable, but slang versions of those words would not be acceptable anywhere.“Violence and Drug Abuse: Graphic images of humans being killed, such as in news accounts, may be acceptable in some areas, but blood and gore, gratuitous violence, etc., are not acceptable. Discussions about coping with drug abuse in health areas are okay, but discussions about or depictions of illegal drug abuse that imply it is acceptable are not.” Edit Delete

⁴ See Amy Harmon, “Worries About Big Brother at America Online,” New York Times, January 31, 1999, 1. Edit Delete