The WELL

This article is about the Whole Earth Electronic Link online community. For other uses, see The Well (disambiguation).

Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Type of site
Virtual community
Available inEnglish
OwnerThe WELL Group Inc.
URLwell.com
LaunchedFebruary 1985; 39 years ago (1985-02)[1]

The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link,[2] normally shortened to The WELL or The Well,[3] is a virtual community that was launched in 1985. It is one of the oldest continuously operating virtual communities. By 1993 it had 7,000 members, a staff of 12, and gross annual income of $2 million.[4] A 1997 feature in Wired magazine called it "The world's most influential online community."[5] In 2012, when it was last publicly offered for sale, it had 2,693 members.[6] It is best known for its Internet forums, but also provides email, shell accounts, and web pages. Discussion topics are organized into conferences that cover broad areas of interest.[2] User anonymity is prohibited.[2]

  1. ^ Pernick, Ron (1995). "A Timeline of the First Ten Years of The WELL". Retrieved June 28, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c "The WELL". Encyclopedia Britannica. March 6, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  3. ^ Jennings, Peter; Brewster, Todd (November 1998). The Century (1st ed.). New York: Doubleday. p. 554. ISBN 0-385-48327-9.
  4. ^ Figallo, Cliff (September 1, 1993). "The Well: Small Town on the Information Highway System". Whole Earth Review. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  5. ^ "The Epic Saga of The Well: The World's Most Influential Online Community (And It's Not AOL)". Wired. May 1, 1997. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  6. ^ Anonymous (June 29, 2012). "The Well, a Pioneering Online Community, is for Sale Again". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2022.