Comments on: For Conversations, No Place Like The Well

By: worth

worth — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:53:37 +0000

You didn’t ask, but I’ll suggest anyway: http://www.edge.org is the type of community that Larry Brilliant is describing. It’s more philosophical in nature, but applies itself to stimulating and relevant topics.

By: planetrussell.net - Michael J. Russell » Blog Archive » For Conversations, There’s (Still) No Place Like The WELL

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:34:31 +0000

[...] on Om Malik’s always-informative GigaOM site, staff writer Brigid Gaffkin has written a short-but-sweet piece on Google.org Director Dr. [...]

By: Michael J. Russell

Michael J. Russell — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:10:21 +0000

Dr. Larry Brilliant proves that he’s still…well, brilliant.

Although younger Millennials/Digital Natives are typically less familiar with The WELL, that’s really a shame. The WELL was the original social media resource that existed before any of us ever called any of this stuff “social media.” I had the privilege of working for The WELL’s original professional services group, WELL Engaged (now Mzinga) in the mid-1990′s.

Without The WELL, there would never have been a Facebook, a Twitter. Maybe an AOL…just maybe. The WELL is to social media what Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly are to rock ‘n roll – there from the beginning. Except The WELL is still alive and kicking, too.

For those who’d like to learn more, Katy Hafner’s seminal WIRED article is as brisk and gut-wrenching a read now as it was when it was first published:

The Epic Saga of The Well
The World’s Most Influential Online Community (And It’s Not AOL)

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.05/ff_well.html