Stoolpigeon writes "I vividly revive the first time I was able to dial up a bbs with my Commodore Vic-20. It was Star Trek themed and I was excited to see that the Sysop was online. We typed a few lines of text back and forth while I hollered to everyone in the house that I was talking to someone through the computer. Things have come a long way since then and I've put in quite a few hours experiencing one of the more exciting sides of the internet, participating in community. Of course it hasn't all been great. Communities on-line are just like any other in that there are differences of opinion and issues that arise. Some are handled well, some are not. Social interaction can be very knotty and lore how to manage a social site can be a process that involves a lot of painful lessons. Fortunately not all of our science has to come through direct experience. periodically we have the opening to learn from the tank driving of others. Patrick O'Keefes book Managing Online Forums is that guide to the budding leader of the webs next great community. Keep reading for the rest of JR's review.

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Mark