Michael F. Hauben

Michael Hauben
May Day 2000 New York City

Michael Frederick Hauben (1973–2001) was an Internet theorist and author. He pioneered the study of the social impact of the Internet. Based on his interactive online research, in 1993 he coined the term and developed the concept of Netizen to describe an Internet user who actively contributes towards the development of the Net and acts as a citizen of the Net and of the world. Along with Ronda Hauben, he co-authored the 1997 book Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet. Hauben's work is widely referenced in many scholarly articles and publications about the social impact of the Internet.

Hauben was born on May 1, 1973 in Boston, Massachusetts, son of Jay and Ronda Hauben. He was an active participant in the Bulletin Board System (BBS) communities in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area in Michigan where his family had moved.

Hauben participated in the founding meetings of the Amateur Computerist in 1987. From 1991 to 1997 he attended Columbia University in NYC, earning a BA in Computer Science (Columbia College 1995) and an MA in Communication (Teachers College 1997). During his studies at CU, Hauben did much of his original research and writing. He was all that time an active employee of the CU Academic Information Systems (AcIS), serving for one year as a Postmaster and Consultant for Electronic Mail.

Hauben was co-author of the book Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet, a draft of which was put online in 1994. Print editions in English (IEEE Computer Society Press) and Japanese (Chuokoron-Sha, Inc) were published in 1997. Based on his interactive online research, Hauben coined the term 'Netizen' and introduced it into popular use. In the Preface to Netizens, Hauben wrote:"My initial research concerned the origins and development of the global discussion forum Usenet....I wanted to explore the larger Net and what it was and its significance. This is when my research uncovered the remaining details that helped me to recognize the emergence of Netizens. There are people online who actively contribute towards the development of the Net. These people understand the value of collective work and the communal aspects of public communications. These are the people who discuss and debate topics in a constructive manner, who e-mail answers to people and provide help to new-comers, who maintain FAQ files and other public information repositories, who maintain mailing lists, and so on. These are people who discuss the nature and role of this new communications medium. These are the people who as citizens of the Net I realized were Netizens." Hauben observed that, "The word citizen suggests a geographic or national definition of social membership. The word Netizen reflects the new non-geographically based social membership. So I contracted the phrase net.citizen to Netizen."