In case I didn’t make it abundantly clear yesterday,  anyone with Sociological curiosity about Social Networking simply MUST include Howard Rheingold in their research and reading.  Here’s Shel Israel,  giving a testimony to his own indebtedness to Rheingold which is very similar to what I would say about my own exploration of such things over the past 19 years.

He’s not sure just how many books and articles he has authored or collaborated on, since 1970,  but Amazon offers 72 titles with his byline.  Two of these books, The Virtual Community [2000] and Smart Mobs [2003] have profoundly influenced my thinking and writing over the past half dozen years and if you happened to be into social media he is among the early pioneers who blazed the trail the rest of us have followed. He has been a friend & colleague of many of the thinkers and doers who have delivered us to today and in many cases he can say he had been there and part of the collaborating team that did that. He has also been often prophetic in seeing the seeds that began as visions and have since become reality

Global Neighbourhoods: SM Global Report: Howard Rheingold, Part 1

Also,  the following further creditings to Rheingold also highlight just how significant Rheingold’s evangelizations  hasve been:

Rheingold was an early and enthusiastic member of the San Francisco-based ” Well,” the first internet-based community to gain widespread notice and momentum. His speaking and writing about it, particularly in The Virtual Community introduced a great number of people to the vision of social media for the first time.

Shel has done a two part interview, the first gathering Rheingold’s reflections on what has happened so far,  the second upcoming one on what Rheingold sees coming.