Seattle Community Network

A Digital City for the People

Doug Schuler
published in Bit (Japanese computer magazine) April, 2001

 

As the son of Maia, a wood nymph, and Zeus, the king of the Gods, Hermes was neither God nor mortal. Beginning at his conception and lasting all through his life, the winged-footed messenger was a border crosser. Thus Hermes became, for the Greeks, the patron of many social activities involving change and exchange: travel, commerce, doorways, roads, language, communication, and, of course, sex. Additionally, the demigod's penchant for transgressing boundaries -- even the most sacred social conventions -- earned him the title of trickster.

 

Seattle, like Hermes, is difficult to precisely describe. Seattle is home to corporate behemoths like Microsoft and Boeing whose acquisitive eyes are fixed on global markets. Yet in the closing days of the last millennium Seattle provided the streets for the ragtag and loosely organized anti-globalism demonstrations against the World Trade Organization. With that background, the Seattle Community Network's use of Hermes' likeness in their logo does not seem farfetched. Among its numerous border crossings, SCN fuzzes the traditional line between consumer and producer of information. In the era of the fast-buck dot-coms, the Seattle Community Network hearkens to the past and is more like a public library for the electronic age. In the so-called "new economy" with its hyper-inflated salaries and stock options the Seattle Community Network relies on volunteers who donate their time with no financial reward for the benefit of the community. In the era of global capitalism and the pre-eminence of profit and the "bottom line" the Seattle Community Network offers all of its services for free -- without banner ads or other digital detritus. In an era of where money talks, SCN raises the voice of citizens. Is SCN a trickster as well?

 

Beginnings

Just over a decade ago, in 1990, still several years before anybody had even heard about the World Wide Web, in the days when it was still unlawful to use the Internet for commercial purposes, a group of activists came together in a living room in Seattle to explore the idea of public space in cyberspace. At that particular monthly meeting of the Seattle chapter of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) some of the world's first public access computer systems were discussed: Big Sky Telegraph (in Montana), the Rainbow Pages (Boston), Santa Monica (California) PEN, the New York Youth Network, and the Cleveland (Ohio) Free-Net. (Remember that at this time only academics and institutions engaged in computing research were allowed to use the Internet.) The topic had immense appeal: the living room was filled to capacity; some of the attendees had driven up from Portland, a distance of 200 miles. Although the consensus was that Seattle needed such a system, the hope was to support somebody else's effort rather than build our own. The idea of a free, public networked computer system, however, would not go away. Over the next couple of years, the desire for a new public network system in Seattle grew and grew and no other group stepped in to realize the desire. Finally, in 1992 the local CPSR chapter launched the project. The organizers then started to look for partners, while developing a vision for the future and a strategy, policy, statement of principles and an appropriate technology base for attaining that vision.

Now the Seattle Community Network Association (SCNA) is a non-profit organization in its own right. Its mission includes running the network in addition to its broader goals of helping to foster democratic technology worldwide. Members of SCNA can vote for its board members or run for the board of directors themselves. The board of SCNA is responsible for governing SCN and determining strategic directions. There is no paid staff; SCN is run entirely by volunteers. SCNA partners with another critical civic organization -- the Seattle Public Library -- which houses the SCN computers and shares their Internet connection.

Touring The Seattle Community Network

Depending on who develops them and how they are used community networks take different forms in different communities. The history and demographics of the community also play important roles as do other services and institutions -- computer based or not -- that already exist in the community. Changes in computer technology (such as new databases, graphical interfaces, plug ins, and distributed applications) are also influencing the design of future systems. Although the Seattle Community Network (SCN) was launched (in 1993) with the text-based Free-Net software pioneered with the Cleveland Free-Net, the system is now largely web-based. Over 18,000 people are registered users of SCN and the web site gets hundreds of thousands of visits every year.

When a user encounters the Seattle Community Network (http://www.scn.org) the first thing he or she sees is the SCN logo which blends communication metaphors and Seattle imagery. Hermes, the messenger of the Gods, has apparently moved to the Pacific Northwest region of the US (where he enjoys considerably less sunshine than he did in his native Greece). In the logo, he is seen relaxing on snowcapped Mount Rainier, beckoning to future SCN users, the Seattle Space Needle, an icon from the 1963 World's Fair, now repurposed as a communications beacon, held casually in his hands. Clicking the "About SCN" link brings up information about SCN's policy and principles. SCN provides free web space, e-mail and listserve distribution. Basic information about contacting SCN, getting an account and publishing information on the SCN web site is found on the left side of the page, below the logo and the welcome message. Under that, the "Seattle Site of the Week" is featured.

The SCN developers decided in the early design phase not to employ building metaphors that were generally used to organize information in Free-Net Systems ("Post Office," "Public Square," "Arts Building," "School House," "Sciences and Technology Center," and "Library," for example). Instead they devised less concrete descriptors ("Activism," "Arts," "Civil," "Earth," "Education," "Health," "Marketplace," "Neighborhoods," "News," "People," "Recreation," "Sci-Tech," and "Spiritual") which are listed along the right edge of the main page. Since the categories are arranged alphabetically, "activism" heads the list. While the placement is accidental, its prominent location does help ensure prominence of "activism" on the SCN web site and of the idea in general, a major part of the SCN philosophy. Commercial search engines and other major portals on the Web are, of course, unlikely to highlight this category at all: selling things is their alll-consuming objective.

If we click on the "activism" link on SCN, we will discover a wide range of information including links to "Environmental," "Human Rights," "Hunger and Homelessness," and "Women" web pages ( http://www.scn.org/activism). Those web sites generally relate to Seattle area activism and are usually found on SCN -- but not always. The activism page, like all the category pages on SCN, is coordinated and managed by a volunteer "subject area editor." Subject area editors are free to organize their web page as long as they include the basic SCN header and are responsive to the needs of the information providers (IP's) who are adding web pages on that subject.

The "civic" section (http://www.scn.org/civic) has links to social services, politics, legal, non-profit, philanthropy, public agencies, and international pages. The Sustainable Seattle project deserves particular attention because of its compelling model which weaves together community research, activism, and civic engagement. Sustainable Seattle has been developing a set of sustainability "indicators" which -- taken as a whole -- provide a meaningful snapshot of the Seattle region's ability to provide long-range social and environmental health for all of its inhabitants - human and otherwise. In a demonstration of the power of the net in spreading ideas, environmental activists in Malaysia came across the Sustainable Seattle web site while checking out SCN. They apparently liked what they saw as they launched the Sustainable Penang project soon after.

The fact that the SCN "Neighborhood" ( http://www.scn.org/neighbors) section has been growing steadily over the years is important to the SCN organizers because supporting geographical communities has been a primary motivation from the project's onset. So, although ideally, a community network would exist for every community on the planet, it's clear that this is unlikely to happen in the near future. Although SCN focuses on the Seattle area, Seattle is not its exclusive focus. Therefore local neighborhoods such as Kenmore, Lakewood, and Bellingham use the SCN site as do global neighbors as the "Uganda Community Management Program" and the "USTAWI: Promoting Self-Sufficiency in Africa" sites.

The "Science and Technology" (http://www.scn.org/tech) section points to a large selection of important resources both on SCN and other locations. There are links to several innovative projects such as the Community Technology Institute (which offers free voice mail to homeless and phoneless people around the US), The Network, a cooperative effort of community network activists and researchers worldwide, and the volunteer-run Vintage Telephone Equipment Museum in Seattle. The "Ask Mr. Science" service, currently unavailable, allowed people to submit science questions to "Mr. Science" who would then post the answers online. This feature, which originated on the Cleveland Free-Net, was one of SCN's oldest features and has been used by many Seattle area classrooms.

IS SCN a Digital City?

The concept of a digital city is of very recent vintage. Consequently it has an ambiguous and possibly transient meaning. A digital city, nevertheless, any that has any right to the name must have certain characteristics. These characteristics must reflect those found in the "real" city, the non-virtual one. A "real" city is host to a wide range of people and activities - public and private, commercial and non-profit, individual and collective. A digital city can't be, any more than a "real" city, devoted to single purpose or be under the guardianship of a single, all-powerful ruler, either individual or corporate. That there must be a role for "citizens" is probably the defining characteristic of a digital city. If the citizen can not "enter" the city and then, once there, go from place to place freely, engaging with other citizens, possibly, even establishing a residence there, then it can't possibly be considered a city, digital or otherwise, any more than a photograph of a house can be a house, or a map of a country to be a country.

There is only one "Seattle" yet there can be several "virtual Seattles" coexisting in the potentially infinite dimensions of cyberspace. Each one, however, must be associated in some way with the real one. Cyberspace can be dynamic, interactive, malleable, collective and collaborative, making the media much more easily manipulated than the bricks, mortar, and steel that goes into the construction of actual cities.

SCN originated in Seattle and most of its users live in Seattle or nearby. Why should people in Japan (or Russia or Italy or Ghana or Argentina or anywhere else) care about SCN? The answer is that the cities and people of the world are bound to each other; the world is shrinking and globalism -- with positive and negative connotations - - is becoming the defining characteristic of our era. Japan and Washington state each border the Pacific Ocean. Beyond that they both share the planet; their citizens are also planetary citizens. Neither society can rely solely on large institutions -- either commercial or government -- to provide all of its information and communication needs. Japan and other countries in Asia are developing digital cities that reflect their cultural values. That is how it should be. On the other hand, all of us are human, and we have more similarities with each other than we have differences.

Why Build Community Networks?

Global forces-- economic, political and technological -- are extending their hold on us. As a result, people may feel like they9re isolated and alone or part of an undifferentiated crowd. In either case, people -- especially those with fewer economic resources -- often feel that they have little control over their future. The consequences of powerlessness, real or perceived, transcend the individual; society as a whole suffers for it is deprived of social intelligence and energy which could be used to address economic and environmental problems. History has shown that it has been people -- not government or business -- who first raised this century's most pressing issues -- the environment, women's issues, sexual identity, and others.

Technology is often seen as complex and unknowable. It is much larger than the more familiar and comfortable spheres of the individual or community. Technology can be complex and it can be inhumanly vast. But if people don9t tame technology, it will forever be threatening and out of their control. People will continue to be victimized. The truth is that humankind can9t be separated from its tools or from its technology. And although technological systems may seem complex, unknowable, and overwhelmingly vast, they need not be. Existing systems can be tamed and new community-oriented systems can be built. By reasserting our control of our technological systems, some of the tension between "community" and "technology" can be removed and technology can be made to better serve human needs.

Computer technology -- working with other efforts -- can play a positive role in rebuilding community by strengthening its core values. Whether these aims are realized will depend on citizens from all walks of life. Truly democratic systems can only be developed through broad participation. This endeavor must not be a charitable good-works project of elites, or a rebellion of the underclasses. It should be open to citizens of all races, economic classes, ethnic origins, religions, genders, ages, and sexual preferences. It must be global in nature, because a confluence of perspectives, experiences, and skills is needed in order to succeed.

What connections exist between the real city and a virtual city? Should a city's name be appropriated by a privately held corporate entity or should it be open to the widest number of inhabitants like a "real" city? Seattle Community Network was not conceived as a profit-making enterprise, a source of pure entertainment, or as a digital billboard to sell ad space. The original developers of the Seattle Community Network hoped to build a new arena for social discourse, an arena in which all citizens -- not just those drawing salaries from big corporations or the government -- can be active players in the continuing unfolding of the future. Providing a space for connecting people without power with those that may have excess amounts is SCN's major goal. Hermes would undoubtedly approve.

References

Castells, M. (1996, 1997, 1998). The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture (three volumes). Oxford: Blackwell.
Day, P., Holbrooks, Z., Namioka, A. and Schuler, D. (2000). Proceedings of DIAC-00, "Shaping the Network Society." Palo Alto. Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. (2000) http://www.cpsr.org/conferences/diac00/proceedings
Freire, P. (1992). Pedagogy of Hope: Reliving Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Gurstein, M. (ed.) (2000). Community Informatics: Enabling Communities with Information and Communications Technologies. Hershey, PA: Idea Group.
Habermas, J. (1989). The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge: Polity.
Keck, M. and Sikkink, K. (1998). Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Schuler, D. (1996). New Community Networks: Wired for Change. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. http:/www.scn.org/ncn

What is Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (Sidebar)

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) is a US-based organization of computer professionals and other individuals who are concerned about some of the uses of computing technology in society today. CPSR's first area of analysis, criticism, and activism was focused on the use of computers in warfare. One of its earliest targets was the Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars") system which to this day has produced nothing of value for the billions of dollars that the US taxpayer has unwittingly thrown away over the years. Recently, CPSR's focus has been on the Internet - privacy, freedom of speech, and access to cyberspace. As the Internet becomes more commonplace worldwide, CPSR has also spread; in recent months, new chapters have been launched in Canada and Africa. CPSR has just launched a new Public Sphere Project that will explore new approaches to building effective public settings all over the world. Its Seattle Statement is on the web (http://www.scn.org/cpsr/diac-00/seattle-statement.html) in six languages (including Japanese) and is being used to gather signatures and promote public space in cyberspace.

The Fate of Community Networks (Sidebar)

SCN, as of this writing, is a thriving computer system that has served as a model for many others throughout the world. On the other hand, its future is far from secure; after many years it still relies on volunteer labor and on donations. The search for sustainability is not an issue for Seattle alone. Most, if not all, community networks in the world are finding it difficult to find the support that they need. For that reason many people suspect that community networks will need to rely on the government in the future for support, although this view is not shared by all community network developers. There is also a strong fear that as billions of dollars are invested in commercial Internet ventures community networks and other new civic institutions that use digital technology may simply become more and more marginalized as time goes on.

Author Biography

Doug Schuler has been speaking, writing, teaching, and working in the area of democratic technology for nearly 20 years. Author of New Community Networks: Wired for Change as well as numerous articles and book chapters, Doug is a meliorist who believes that positive social change is possible and technology may play a role. To this end he has worked with people in all over the world to help communities develop technology that is right for them. Recently Doug has launched the Public Sphere Project with CPSR to help further promote this work.