Mike Holderness

Purveyor of Fine Memes

"What do you do?"
I write. About 'this internet thing - what does it mean?'
"Oh. So do you write fiction?"
Just once. But it was a long time ago, it was an accident, and I don't plan to do it again.

Misunderstandings at American parties aside, it can be interesting being a journalist whose main subject is the future.

I have written extensively for magazines and newspapers about science, technology, communications and their implications. Recently, I have been spending more time on larger publications.

Like many specialist journalists, I got into this field largely by accident: see my narrative resumé.

From time to time I talk about these things on the radio. This prompted me to launch a competition with the BBC Radio 4 programme The Network (It didn't really catch on...)

I sometimes teach classes on the internet for journalists and have taught university classes.

Old-fashioned though some people may think trade unionism is, it seems to me to be more essential than ever in an age of galloping casualisation - or for those, like myself, who prefer to be freelance and independent. I am active in the UK National Union of Journalists, and in its campaign on photo-manipulation. I am also a member of the US National Writers Union, the Freelance Experts Group of the International Federation of Journalists, and of the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society.

In October 1997 I was made a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce and was startled to wake up one morning with Letters After My Name (albeit SMALL ONES). In fact, I only opened the letter after retrieving it from the bin, realisting it might not be the press release it first appeared to be. At that time I could have been mistaken for someone supporting more colourful political action. I like life's contrasts.

In 1999 I was appointed to the Information Society Forum, the expert body advising the European Commission on matters relating to... the Information Society. That is, the social and economic implications of the communications revolution.

I am especially interested in the battle for control of information between corporations, the public and the people (like us) who actually create the stuff. The outcome of this will, I believe, have a major effect on the development of human culture in the coming decades.

"Where do you work?"
In cyberspace. Do you want to see my phone bill?

The more time I spend there, the more urge I have to go out. Too often, I spend too much time thinking about what that all means, too.

What, no picture? There's a picture here. What would a home page be without a picture?

Please email me to buy words, or let me know about broken links, or whatever. All graphics and backgrounds are, unless otherwise noted, by me and I own them.

Hand-crafted in WordStar v.4 & tested in ; Updated 04 Feb 2001. Self-deconstructing version