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[RRE]Headlines Extra -- Online Communities 7/1/99
``` [I've reformatted this message. An Internet issue that generates a remarkable of heat, somewhere below pornography but well above gambling, is whether a period ending a sentence should be followed by one space or two. I am a two-spacer myself, but I gather that many programs automatically generate one, and that some of the one-spacers out there feel strongly about the matter. For the record, the RRE house style is to two-space those sentence breaks. I also format things to 70 columns, and I try to adjust the words so that you don't see a full word on one line protruding over the end of the line after it. And I put the punctuation outside the quotation marks. Why go to the effort? Because a list needs a visual identity, and because this kind of formatting is easy with Emacs keyboard macros.]
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Date: 1999-07-01, 13:06 From: lists@benton.org Subject: Headlines Extra -- Online Communities 7/1/99 Headlines Extra is a free online news service provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Much like our daily, Communications- related Headlines, Headlines Extra is intended to keep you up to date on important industry developments, policy issues, and other pertinent communications-related news events.
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HEADLINES EXTRA -- ONLINE COMMUNITIES JULY, 1 1999 GEOGRAPHIC COMMUNITIES The Net that Binds (The Nation) Community Networks Connect with Economic Development (Community Technology Review) Hometown Newspapers Use Web to Strengthen Communities (CNN) Internet has Deep Grass Roots (Atlanta Journal Constitution) COMMUNITY ACCESS Public Transit for the Information Highway (Community Technology Review) ISSUES-BASED COMMUNITIES Onward Online Soldiers (ABC News) The Third Wave (Feed) Building Global Communities (BusinessWeek) Minority Sites Build Community and Business on the Web (CNN) GEOGRAPHIC COMMUNITIES THE NET THAT BINDS The Internet presents an opportunity for individuals to strengthen their "virtual" communities, but --more importantly-- their real geographically-based communities. Virtual communities have numerous benefits. They bring people together across vast distances, they break down social barriers through anonymity and present news designed to meet a reader's specific needs --they "personalize" everything. But "personalization" can also undermine the cohesion of real, local communities by limiting the exchange of common, shared experience and knowledge. Additionally, online communities may help to build relationships -- at the expense of building strong ties with those who live nearby. Online communities are fleeting and short-lived. But relationships in physical communities are longer-lasting, should be strengthened and can be on the Internet. Internet users communicate less with family members, have less contact with social acquaintances and feel more lonely and isolated, according to a study by HomeNet. In order to find a true sense of belonging to a community, Shapiro says local engagement should and can occur on and off the Internet through what he calls "community networks". Shining examples of these networks include Charlotte's Web in Charlotte, NC; Liberty Net in Philadelphia, PA; Blacksburg Electronic Village in Blacksburg, VA; and a community network in Amsterdam, Holland. On these community networks, citizens generate dialogue among themselves, with community leaders and their municipal governments. Proof of their success lies in the fact that the resources in geographic areas like San Francisco and New York have become more accessible because of discussion and promotion on the Web. "The history of online communities suggests that people want to convene with their geographic neighbors, both online and in person," says Shapiro. As the Internet expands into a seemingly endless universe of alluring distractions and threatens to socially isolate people more, Shapiro says that an emphasis on localism and "real communities" must be made stronger, more explicit. Web-based local networks that are ubiquitous, accessible and interesting enough should be built, so that all Internet users will want to use them at least some of the time, says Shapiro. These "gateways" should allow people to go anywhere, on and off the Net, should facilitate community dialogue among community members. Its architecture is crucial; it should be democratic and private. "It should thus have all the quirks and flavor of the geographic community for which it is a digital annex, and it should be accountable to the members of that community". Networks can partner with local businesses to draw larger audiences but should be cautious of becoming over commercialized. In the end, citizens need to leverage the power that interactive technology gives them. Local gateways are powerful ways to increase local engagement, they must not however been seen as a panacea for community activism. "The goal of the Internet is not to replicate the world we know, but to improve it," says Shapiro. "We must use the World Wide Web..to fortify the local webs in which we dwell". [SOURCE: The Nation (June 21, 1999), AUTHOR: Andrew L. Shapiro] (http://www.thenation.org/issue/990621/0621shapiro.shtml) COMMUNITY NETWORKS CONNECT WITH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Electronic community networks are a good alternative medium for citizens to discuss issues that are important to their community and to strengthen community relationships. Electronic forums and chat rooms, like Columbia's Free-Net (www.tcfn.org) and the Twin Cities' Free Net (http://freenet.msp.mn.us) for example, allow people to address economic development issues concerning schools, road construction, unemployment, local business developments and technological training. Electronic calendars, on the other hand, keep local residents informed about what's going on in their community. As a result, members can develop mutually beneficial business relationships. The AppalachianCenter for Economic Networks (ACEN, www.seorf.ohiou.edu/~acenet) offers a meeting place where entrepreneurs are provided assistance and can interact with one another, and facilitates partnerships between businesses and people with disabilities. Public WebMarket (http://development.civicnet.org/webmarket) helps local businesses market their products on the Internet. LibertyNet (www.libertynet.org) a Philadelphia, PA-based electronic community network provides links to job listings in newspapers and other sources, and offers free classes on maximizing the use of the Internet. Also, community networks can promote a region and stimulate economic growth. Okmulgee County Electronic Village (www.ocevnet.org) displays statistics on demographics and transportation while Columbia Free-Net provides information on local area tourism. Finally, community networks can offer cheap and free access to the Internet as well as Internet training. The ACEN's Women Sectoral Training and Empowerment Program helps get low-income women out of welfare by adding basic skills to low-cost Internet training. The Eugene Free Community Network (www.efn.org) provides free Internet connections to low-income individuals in their homes and Liberty Net promotes free computer access in local public libraries. [SOURCE: Community Technology Review (p.44), AUTHOR: Lawrence Hecht] (http://www.civicnet.org/comtechreview/community_networks_connect_with.htm ) INTERNET HAS DEEP GRASS ROOTS While there has been much speculation about the Internet's potential role in the next presidential election, technology's impact can already be felt at the local level. Many residents of North Fulton County, GA, outside of Atlanta, depend on the on the North Fulton Communication Grid email news service to deliver information about city council meetings, zoning hearings and other news of local importance. The www.georgiausa.com Web site also provides local political information to several communities in the area. "People are busier and busier and don't necessarily have time to meet face to face," observes Jeff Reynolds, co-founder of the site. "The Web and the Internet provide a way for them to stay involved". Other local activists have discovered that the Web and email were much faster and easier than passing out fliers or other ways of getting neighbors informed and involved. [SOURCE: Atlanta Journal Constitution 22 June (1C), AUTHOR: Tom Baxter] (http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/) HOMETOWN NEWSPAPERS USE WEB TO STRENGTHEN COMMUNITIES Editor & Publisher named Town Online, an eastern Massachusetts based newspaper, this year's best weekly newspaper site in the country. More and more of these local community based papers are finding loyal audiences on the Web. People want their local sports scores and movie theatre times. Eric K. Meyer, a journalism professor at the University of Illinois in Champaign, said that even expatriate readers, who often come home once a year for a holiday or funeral, is an audience that is untapped. "Funeral homes have become a huge source of online advertising," he said. Town Online publisher Charlene Li said, "Our goal is not to put the newspaper online, but to put the community online". [SOURCE: CNN Interactive, AUTHOR: Charles Bermant] (http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9808/21/hometown.idg/index.html) COMMUNITY ACCESS PUBLIC TRANSIT FOR THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY Blue Line TeleVillage, a project in Compton, CA developed with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority, is as a non-commercial network access center (NAC) that was strategically created to simultaneously reduce environmental pollution and provide community groups with access to high-tech digital broadband networks. According to Walter Siembab of Siembab Associates, a Los Angeles consulting firm that helped get the project started, NACs can transform urban communities by making them more sustainable environmentally and commercially. By adopting this policy --which he calls public transit for the information highway-- NACs can be positive examples of good-quality neighborhood or village life. The Blue Line TeleVillage, which is a three-year old prototype NAC, was built within walking distance from neighborhood homes in Compton. The high-tech center is made up of six main elements that allow community organizations to have access to technological services and facilities that otherwise would not be available to them: a Computer Center; Video Conference Center; Telework Center; Circuit Rider Work Station; Kiosks; and Community Meeting Room. NACs like the Blue Line TeleVillage also have the potential to bring other urban community functions (ie. distance education programs, telemedicine, government and business services) onto its broadband network in order to increase the exposure of community organizations and access to their resources. This versatility and "concentrated urban functionality" increases the possibilities for NACs to legitimately claim financial support from diverse sources, transportation and economic development funding programs as well as telecommunications and education sources. Beyond building individual NACs, Siembab says the next step in the evolution of a public transit communications policy to support sustainable cities is a metropolitan scale demonstration of a system of three-five network stations. He challenges traditional community technology centers to relocate, expand and innovate in this new direction, towards the development of multi-functional NACs. [SOURCE: Community Technology Review (p.42), AUTHOR: Walter Siembab] (http://www.civicnet.org/comtechreview/public_transit.htm) ISSUE COMMUNITIES MINORITY SITES BUILD COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS ON THE WEB Many minority Web sites began as content driven sites, in a magazine style. The publishers, however, soon found the Internet to be quite a different medium. Many of these Web sites added a new feature: chat. They found their members did not just want to know what was going on in their community. They wanted to talk to one another about it. Community Web sites such as these have two options for financial support: jump into the e-commerce business and sell something, or get other outside backing. Because the e-commerce route can be a big gamble, many of these sites such as NetNoir Online and Women.com have created market research and consulting divisions to leverage the information they have compiled on their audience. They use those numbers to get connected with advertisers to back their sites. AOL has picked up Hispanic Online and Jewish Community Online. For advertisers, it turns out that Web sites attract a strikingly similar demographic, regardless of ethical or racial identity. The audience is typically composed of college-educated, Internet-savvy professionals, aged 18 to 34, who earn an average of $55,000 a year, which is a definite draw for advertisers. [SOURCE: CNN Interactive, AUTHOR: Dianne See] (http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9809/30/minority.idg/index.html) THE THIRD WAVE Since the beginning of the Internet, critics have noted that virtual communities threaten or complicate our traditional sense of geographic place. Most sites use elaborate metaphors of locale: rooms, streets, etc. But an intriguing new application called Third Voice has eliminated the metaphor of "place," producing a kind of distributed virtual community unlike anything that's come before it. Communities on the Web started out as extroverted, meaning people had to use outside physical resources for discussion online. Then along came the Web zine format where messages could be posted and a discussion would be featured either on that page or another. This genre -- more feedback than community -- is now ubiquitous online, with most news stories and soapbox screeds attached to a threaded bulletin board where readers can heckle or applaud. These are introverted communities. Now with Third Voice, which comes in the form of a "browser companion" application, you can annotate any web page with both private notes and public comments. To read others' posts, all you need to do is download the Third Voice client. When you stumble across a page that has been annotated by another Third Voice user, the notes will appear in outline form in the companion window and as small icons inserted into the text itself. Every site on the Web can generate a Third Voice conversation as the software itself revolves around the user and the centralized Third Voice database and eliminates the original content producers from the circuit. With Third Voice, the community has attached itself directly to the host. If you're a web publisher, the only way to tell whether a Third Voice community has formed around your site is to download the software and load up your own pages. Users have to register at the main Third Voice site if they want to post comments. [SOURCE: Feed Magazine, AUTHOR: Steven Johnson] (http://www.feedmag.com/column/interface/ci223_master.html) BUILDING GLOBAL COMMUNITIES What do you do when fans of your work are infringing your copyrights by placing your material on their homepages? Warner Brothers Online wasn't about to sue their fans. Instead they formed a joint venture with Fortune City, a fast growing online community based in London. They created a site for fans around the world building home pages. Warner has racked up 150,000 registered members while luring them away from GeoCities and Tripod. Warner offers them free Web space and exclusive content for their sites. In return, the media giant gets some personal information from the consumer. These companies also browse around the homepages of their users where they can pick up other personal information. The companies then use this to lure advertisers to the sites. The pioneers of free Web space for homepages and community building such as GeoCities and Tripod believe that the idea of community and rallying around a common interest is disappearing because these giant media companies are using their market power to lure consumers. [SOURCE: businessweek.com, AUTHOR: Neil Gross] http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_12/b3621017.htm?scriptFramed
See Also: WILL MEDIA GIANTS BULLDOZE COMMUNITIES People are fearful of the consequences with respect to communities as traditional media giants erect new "high-rise" developments that are beginning to overshadow the community sites that sprouted much of the Web's early growth with companies such as Tripod and Geocities. Many people believe that traditional community sites foster more community aura and spirit. Home page communities also point to other advantages over the media companies: choice and expression. "In many ways we're thrilled to see traditional media companies getting into the business," Ethan Zuckerman, vice president of research and development for Tripod said. "It's a justification of what we've been doing for years. But it takes a lot of work to turn an offline brand into an online brand, and it takes more work to turn a traditional media brand in to a community-centric brand". [SOURCE: abcnews.com, AUTHOR: Jim Hu] (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/CNET/cnet_onlinecommunityii990331.html ) ONWARD ONLINE SOLDIERS What could transform the hierarchical and ritualistic aspects of religion? The Internet has several forums for people to comeonline and discuss topics from human sexuality to praying. There are civilized discussions within faiths and between faiths. People can explore a religion without having to walk into a building. You can also go online and attend services at home in your pajamas with churches that use Web cams on their sites. (OK, I am sold!) Some people believe cyber-worshippers can be selfish by not paying attention to serving the physical community. But with respect to the new medium, Francis Forde Plude, a communications professor at the Notre Dame College of Ohio, said, "It's turning religious hierarchy on its side. Churches and ministers can no longer insist on authority. They have to earn it". [SOURCE: abcnews.com, AUTHOR: Jim Hu] (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/CNET/cnet_onlinecommunityii990331.html )
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