A 1992 Take on the Birth of Social Networking
A segment from the 1992 documentary series The Machine that Changed the World looks at the early social web and its implications
A segment from the 1992 documentary series The Machine that Changed the World, produced by WGBH and the BBC, looks at the early social web and its implications. An engineer from AT&T's Bell Labs, Robert Lucky, describes the new feeling of being connected:
One of the things that's happening is the disappearance of place as an attribute. What someone has said is the 'passing of remoteness.' You know you're no longer remote. When I'm sitting at home in front of my terminal I'm connected. I'm plugged into the world.
In addition to prescient observations about how technology would change finance, education, and social life, the series includes some charming vintage motion graphics. It's a fascinating time capsule of how we were beginning to think about the Information Age in 1992. The entire series can be viewed at the Internet Archive.
To watch the series in its entirety, visit the Internet Archive.
