The Rise of Virtual Communities: In Conversation with Virtual World Pioneers

Uncover the fascinating history of virtual communities and how we connect to each other online. The Rise of Virtual Communities, explores the earliest online community platforms, mapping the technological evolutions, and the individuals, that have shaped the culture of the internet.

Read in-depth interviews with the visionary founders of iconic online platforms, and uncover the history of virtual communities and how the industry has developed over time. Featuring never-before told stories, this exploration introduces new ideas and predictions for the future, explaining how we got here and challenging what we think we may know about building online communities.

Readers will:

• Learn what a virtual community is and how it has become an integral part of modern society
• Review key insights into building virtual communities and platforms from the founders and pioneers who created them
• See what the current developments and the potential challenges are related to the future of virtual communities

Who is this for:

Community managers, company founders and those who want to know more about the origins and future of virtual communities.

interviews Include:

• Randy Farmer & Chip Morningstar - Lucasfilm Games 'Habitat' and creators of the modern Avatar
• Howard Rheingold - Community expert and member of the WELL
• Stacy Horn - Founder of Echo NYC
• Jim Bumgardner - Founder of The Palace
• Philip Rosedale - Founder of Second Life
• Sampo Karjalainen - Co-founder of Habbo Hotel
• Lance Priebe - Co-Founder of Club Penguin
• Angelo Sotira - Co-Founder of Deviant Art
• Caterina Fake - Co-Founder of Flickr
• Alexis Ohanian- Founder of Reddit
• Kevin Rose - Co-Founder of Digg & PROOF Collective
• Jason Citron - Founder of Discord
• Trevor McFedries - Founder of FWB & Brud
• Cherie Hu - Founder of Water & Music
• Michelle Kennedy - Founder of Peanut

揭示虛擬社群的迷人歷史以及我們如何在線上互相連結。《虛擬社群的崛起》探索了最早的線上社群平台，描繪了科技的演進以及塑造了網絡文化的個人。

深入閱讀具有遠見的線上平台創始人的訪談，揭示了虛擬社群的歷史以及該行業隨時間的發展。這次探索中包含了前所未聞的故事，引入了新的想法和對未來的預測，解釋了我們是如何到達這裡的，並對我們對於建立線上社群的認知提出了挑戰。

讀者將會：
- 了解虛擬社群是什麼，以及它如何成為現代社會的一部分
- 從創始人和先驅者那裡獲得建立虛擬社群和平台的關鍵見解
- 看到與虛擬社群未來相關的最新發展和潛在挑戰

適合對虛擬社群的起源和未來有更多了解的社群經理、公司創始人以及其他人士。

訪談包括：
- Randy Farmer和Chip Morningstar - Lucasfilm Games的《Habitat》和現代Avatar的創作者
- Howard Rheingold - 社群專家和WELL的成員
- Stacy Horn - Echo NYC的創始人
- Jim Bumgardner - The Palace的創始人
- Philip Rosedale - Second Life的創始人
- Sampo Karjalainen - Habbo Hotel的聯合創始人
- Lance Priebe - Club Penguin的聯合創始人
- Angelo Sotira - Deviant Art的聯合創始人
- Caterina Fake - Flickr的聯合創始人
- Alexis Ohanian - Reddit的創始人
- Kevin Rose - Digg和PROOF Collective的聯合創始人
- Jason Citron - Discord的創始人
- Trevor McFedries - FWB和Brud的創始人
- Cherie Hu - Water & Music的創始人
- Michelle Kennedy - Peanut的創始人

Amber Atherton is a British Entrepreneur and Investor based in Silicon Valley. A community building expert, Atherton began coding as a child, starting various internet businesses, and garnering an online following, before co-creating the hit TV show Made in Chelsea. In 2018 she took part in Y Combinator with her community software startup Zyper, which was later acquired by Discord. Atherton went on to join the early-stage venture capital firm Patron as a Partner in 2023.

Alongside investing her charitable initiative The Atherton Award recognizes entrepreneurial spirit in young women across the UK.

Amber frequently appears as an expert on television (BBC, CNBC) radio (Bloomberg) and at global conference (Davos, Web Summit), and has written for publications including Forbes, Harpers Bazaar and Vogue Business.

Amber Atherton是一位英國企業家和投資者，目前居住在矽谷。作為一位社群建設專家，Atherton從小就開始編程，創辦了多個互聯網企業，並在線上獲得了一大批追隨者，後來共同創作了熱門電視節目《Made in Chelsea》。2018年，她與她的社群軟體初創公司Zyper一起參加了Y Combinator，該公司後來被Discord收購。Atherton於2023年加入了早期風險投資公司Patron，擔任合夥人職位。

除了投資外，Amber還通過她的慈善計劃The Atherton Award在英國各地表彰年輕女性的創業精神。

Amber經常作為專家出現在電視節目（BBC、CNBC）、廣播節目（Bloomberg）和全球會議（達沃斯、Web Summit）上，並為《福布斯》、《Harpers Bazaar》和《Vogue Business》等出版物撰寫文章。