Howard Rheingold
A prescient digital thinker who coined the term 'virtual community' and evangelized the collaborative potential of the internet long before social media.
Born 1947 (age 79)·American critic, writer, and teacher·Birthday: July 7·Baby Boomers
Biography
Howard Rheingold has always operated at the intersection of technology and human behavior, serving as a cartographer for the digital frontier. In the 1980s, he was an early participant in The WELL, one of the first online communities, an experience that led him to write the seminal book 'The Virtual Community.' He didn't just observe; he actively shaped the discourse, founding the first peer-to-peer journalism site, Electric Minds, and later teaching at Stanford and UC Berkeley. Rheingold's work consistently focused on how tools like the internet, mobile phones, and social media could amplify collective intelligence, cooperation, and civic engagement, provided we cultivated the necessary digital literacies. He remains a vital voice advocating for mindful, skilled participation in our connected world.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Howard was born in 1947, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Howard Was Born
The biggest hits of 1947
#1 Movie
The Egg and I
Best Picture
Gentleman's Agreement
Howard's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1947Born
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1952Started school
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1960Became a teenager
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1963Could drive
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1965Could vote
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Turned 21
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1977Turned 30
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1987Turned 40
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 50
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 60
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 70
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 79 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Authored the influential book 'The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier' (1993), which coined and defined a key term of the digital age.
- Founded and edited 'Electric Minds' (1996), an early award-winning online community and web portal focused on internet culture.
- Pioneered the concept of 'smart mobs,' describing how mobile technology enables impromptu social coordination, in his 2002 book of the same name.
- Taught as a lecturer at Stanford University's Department of Communication and at UC Berkeley's School of Information, focusing on digital journalism and social media.
Did You Know?
He was the editor of the 'Whole Earth Catalog' and 'The Millennium Whole Earth Catalog.'
He coined the term 'brainstorm' in a non-weather context for a 1969 project at the Portola Institute.
Rheingold is an accomplished violinist and has played with various chamber groups.
He was a founding executive editor of HotWired, the commercial web magazine spun off from Wired magazine in 1994.
“The heart of my work is not the technology, it’s the literacies, the mindsets, the social practices that the technology makes possible.”
