September 11, 2008 – In the early days of the Internet, I wrote for Wired Magazine and Rolling Stone, and nothing excited me more as a media critic than the idea of the virtual community, people brought together in new ways by this extraordinary new technology. I imagined, as did others, that new kinds of communities would be formed, like-minded people coming together across vast distances in unimaginable ways.
  This idea came to seem naive to me, as the Net was overcome by corporatism, hostility,
overwhelming amounts of information,  and marketing. And I abandoned it. It was almost impossible to go into open forums online, and to avoid angry and obsessive people who hid behind the new technology to shut down encouragement and real communication. There are few open spaces on the Web that are really free.
  It is still strange to me that some years later, I created my own virtual community on this blog, almost by accident, but maybe not.
  This site is, in most ways, a monologue, not a dialogue. When I raised the notion of open forums, almost everyone responded with passionate pleas to avoid the hostility that has come to characterize most of the open virtual communities, most hosted by people who claim to care what you think, but don’t.
  I had the idea to share my experience on this farm, and as a writer, then a photographer. And sure, I hoped that some of the people who came to this site and entered my life would buy my books. The books, after all, pay for this site, and my life. And the photos too.
  I always say the Internet as a writer’s friend, in that it permits me to send my signal out, and not be dependent on my publisher alone. It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it. Writers, poets and artists have found this medium their lifeline, a way of getting their work out in the world.
  This is, in some respects, one kind of virtual community that I imagined in that more idealistic time. There is support and encouragement, and very clearly, a sense of community. People share my life, and share theirs with me, and offer me quotes, poems, support and encouragement. I appreciate it. I have made valuable friends, learned a lot, been supported.
  I can’t honestly say that I ever imagined what this blog might become, or even grasped it when it happened. The idea that so many people want to see and read about my life will always seem strange to me. I doubt I will get used to it.
 But I appreciate it, and wonder at it. I am faithful to this blog, and contribute to it as often as I can, and I get much back in return. So here we are, together in this odd little virtual community, something I once dreamed about, but gave up on.
  I think the message is to not give up on things.