The Struggle to Save Community

Can Create Community

Doug Schuler

Computers for Social Change Conference

New York, June 11, 1994

Introduction

I'm here to talk about computers and they can be pretty useful. They do, however, follow their own rules which can sometimes get you in trouble. In the May, 1994 issue of Z Magazine there is a good example of this:

In the April issue, there is a horrible error. The article is largely about The American Center for Law and Justice, a rightist outfit whose abbreviation is ACLJ. ACLJ is not in our spell checker. ACLU is. A global replace caused all the ACLJs to come out ACLUs. Calls from all over the country, were made to national ACLU offices and to Z, asking how they could possibly be taking some of the stands attributed to them in the article or berating us for the error. We apologize to all concerned for the confusion and mistake .

My spell checker always asks me if I want to "Change Schuler to scholar?" I'm tempted every time to make thatchange!

I'm happy to be in New York and this conference is great. We had the "Community Introduction" of the Seattle Community Network -- our local community networking project -- last week and we received lots of electronic welcome messages. One of my favorites was from New York. It said "Welcome to New York - The Seattle of the East." I'd like to say that Seattle is the New York of the West but San Francisco probably deserves that title. I do feel that there should be a strong bond between our two cities and I hope to be a part of that bond.

Issues

I plan to talk about two issues today. The first issue is community and there are lots of questions related to this. What is a community? Are communities in trouble? Why are communities worth saving? And what would we look for, in proposed "solutions" to community problems ? The second issue is that of computer technology. Specifically community computer networks and the community network movement. Of course there are also questions associated with this. What is a community network? What is the community network movement? How big is it? What provides the motivation, and why do I think that working with community network devlopers is critical in the near-term.

Before I give you my thoughts on community and community networks I'd like to tell you the conclusions that I'm planning to make.

1. The first conclusion is that computer networking technology does have interesting qualities that could make it useful to a community. The technology allows one-on-one communication and group communication as well. It's a medium in which everybody could potentially participate and it can be done very inexpensively.

2. The second conclusion is that the technology itself is not as important as the opportunities it can bring about and its role as a catalyst for change. There is no shortage of areas in our society that need improvement and I wouldn't be as interested in this technology if I didn't see an opportunity for social change. It is critical to remember that the technology by itself will not cause positive change to occur.

3. The third conclusion is that working together on community networks presents a great opportunity to address problems in a cooperative way. And that we should use this opportunity to fight for democratic processes, local control and free public access. As a computer professional who's interested in social change I'm very happy that many of the issues I'm interested in have suddenly and unexpectedly become central issues for libraries, social service agencies, schools, community television and radio stations, arts groups, and many others. It's critical that these groups understand the technology and use it effectively.

Community

As suggested by the title of this talk, "The Struggle for Community can Create Community", community is both what we're struggling to attain and what we need to have in order to succeed. But what is community in an ideal sense?

Community is the place where people belong and are made to feel welcome.

Community allows us to acknowledge common concerns and work together to address them.

Community takes place on all levels from the neighborhood to the regional, national, and global.

Community allows us to be individuals as well as community members. An enlightened community needs diversity, individualism, privacy, and rights. Rights and responsibilities are like yin and yang - modern society needs both of them to function.

To me, there are six "core values" that underlie my vision of a vital community. The six values are strongly interdependent - if any one of the six is missing or is weak, the others will be weakened.

1. Conviviality or "community spirit"

People need to feel that they belong to the community.

2. Participation in the democratic process

People need to have a guaranteed right to participate equally in the decisions of the affairs of the state and this includes decisions involving technology.

3. Community health and well-being

People need to be healthy, live in healthy surroundings, and have access to health care when they need it, at affordable prices.

4. Education and training

People need education and training throughout their lives that is meaningful and affordable.

5. Economic equity and opportunity

People need an opportunity to participate equitably in the economic life of the community, the country, and the world.

6. Information and communication

People need information and ways in which they can communicate - to inform themselves and to inform others.

So what good are these six core values? There are two basic uses that I see for them: diagnosis and treatment. Diagnosing identifies problems. We can then characterize problems in term of critical indicators that have been identified by the community. For each of the core values we can look at our community and make an assessment based on these critical indicators. For example, I'll use the core value of community health and well-being. Here is a list of possible indicators that would help us diagnose our own community from that point-of-view: number of homeless people; number of hospitals, clinics, and doctors; murder rate; suicide rate; cancer mortality; pollution of all types - including noise; infant mortality; number of billboards; number of billboards advertising cigarettes or alcohol; number of trees, gardens, parks; availability and cost of fresh food and so on. Devising a treatment can then be based on changing the values of certain critical indicators. Community trends can also be identified with these indicators. Moreover these indicators can serve as both rallying cry and as a way to "document" your claims. The Sustainable Seattle project that Richard Civille mentioned yesterday is developing this approach.

If we look at a number of these indicators for each of the core values, we will learn that communities, in many ways, are deteriorating in the US. as well as in other places in the world. The size and number of "Fourth world" communities - the enclaves that exist within first world or developed countries where living conditions are similar to those within third-world or undeveloped countries - are growing rapidly. This isn't secret knowledge: people everywhere are decrying the destruction of community.

Saving Community is not about turning back the hands of the clock to some mythical time. Nor can it be a narrow version of "community" which is exclusive, isolated, mistrustful, nosy, homogenized or managed. We need a new vision of community that contains the vital elements of traditional communities but is updated for the realities of the 21st Century. The new community must be diverse, inclusive, equitable, empowered, and caring.

Whose job is it to rebuild community to make it more meaningful and responsive? Although government and business may have important roles. It's basically the job of community members - you and me - to do the work. Part of that work, incidentally, is telling government and business what they need to do to support our work.

Community Networks

Define Community Networking

Now we come to the topic of community computer networks. What are they?

At a very general level, a community network is a big electronic Bulletin Board System that provides "one-stop shopping" for lots and lots of information on community-related meetings, projects, events, issues, and organizations. Community networks are free to use and free public-access terminals are part of the free access vision. In addition to providing a convenient repository for information these networks offer new participatory opportunities for community dialogue.. These dialogues can be used to explore community concerns, debate issues, build support networks, or to discuss cats, dogs, children, parents, sports, computers, or any topic that people care to talk about.

What separates community networks from other media? Here's a list of what community networks aren't.

Community networks are NOT the ABC Nightly News.

Community Networks are NOT kiosks containing canned information

Community Networks are NOT Lexis or other fee-based electronic databases or services

Community Networks are NOT Prodigy where censors carefully scrutinize each contribution

Community Networks are NOT businesses or guardianships

Community Networks are NOT"on-ramps" to the Internet nor are they the phone company

And finally,

Community Networks are NOT home shopping network or CyberSex services.

Now that we have an idea of what community aren't - we'd like to know what they are.

Community networks are participatory - every information consumer on a community network can be a producer as well. Contrast this to network television.

Community networks are contribution-based - every person's posting adds to the collective consciousness of the community Contrast this to the telephone.

Community networks are free or inexpensive to use

Community networks are free speech protected zones

Community networks are community-oriented

Community networks are democratically run

And finally,

Community networks support several - if not all - of the six core values that hold communities together.

As Tom Grundner, the president of the National Public Telecomputing Network or NPTN and the founder of the Free-Net Movement says, "It's not radio, It's not television, It's not print, but it has characteristics of all three." He goes on to say that the main distinction is that community networks are interactive. People can interact with each other and with the issues of the day. It is fundamentally a new medium and thinking about it as a new medium gives it the significance it deserves.

Six Core Values

Let's look at some examples of how community Networks can be used to help communities. For each of the six core values - (1) Conviviality, (2) democratic process, (3) health and well being, (4) education and training, (5) economic equity and opportunity, and (6) information and communication, I have a mini case-study about how community networks can or have been used.

Conviviality (or "Community Spirit")

The first core value is conviviality or "community spirit" and this extends beyond the idea of good feelings to the deeper and more profound sense of communion. This feeling of communion is shown in a project on the Community Memory system in Berkeley, California, the first community network system in the world. It was meant to be linked to the community exclusively so the only way to access Community Memory was through the public access terminals: you couldn't dial-up from home or connect over the Internet. These terminals are located at libraries, schools, community centers, laundromats and other public places. Community Memory has a unique charging approach: Reading is free but posting a message requires 10 cents - there is coin slot right on the terminal.

The case study involves Country Joe McDonald, leader of the 60's rock group "Country Joe and the Fish" who wrote one of the most devastating anti-war songs - the "I feel like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag" - and was himself a Vietnam War veteran. Country Joe used the Community Memory community network system in Berkeley, California to present an electronic analogue to the Vietnam War memorial in Washington, DC. The name of every veteran in Alameda County who died in wartime and other information about them was put into the Community Memory system. People could then visit the Alameda County War Memorial on-line and scan for names and search for names of family members or friends. They could also add their own comments and remembrances thus building a participatory memorial that was shaped by the community.

Participation in the Democratic

Process The second story illustrates how participation in the democratic process can be facilitated by a community network. This story involves the Public Electronic Network or PEN that was started by the city government of Santa Monica, California for the residents of Santa Monica. Accounts are free to all residents and PEN can be reached via modem from home or office or through any of 25 public access terminals located in schools, libraries, parks, etc.. PEN offers electronic access to each city agency, information from city government such as city council minutes or crime prevention tips, as well as forums in which PEN users can ask questions and express their views in a group setting.

The story began when a PEN member discovered some major hurdles that homeless people routintely face when trying to find a job. A homeless person generally has no reliable way in which to take a shower, clean clothing, or store belongings; making it very difficult to present themself positively to an employer. Not being able to find a job obviously perpetuates the homeless situation and the vicious cycle would continue. This vicious circle was presented in a forum on PEN and several other PEN users thought this was a significant problem that needed discussion and action. These users established an on-line working group called SHWASHLOCK and worked with citizens, businesses, and the government of Santa Monica to ultimately provide showers, washing machines, and lockers for homeless people in their community.

Community Health and Well-Being

The third core value is community health and well-being and the ComputerLink project that operated in conjunction with the Cleveland Free-Net provides some useful ideas. The Cleveland Free-Net is the original Free-Net system and currently has the largest number of users of any community network - over 35,000.

The intent behind the ComputerLink project is to promote collaboration between Alzheimer's Disease caregivers and health-care professionals and beween the caregivers themselves. The system allows private e-mail between all the participants as well as providing a public bulletin board called "the Forum." There is a question and answer area in which questions submitted by caregivers and answers provided by one of the health-care professionals are posted where all can view both question and answer. Discussions on the forum include concerns like how to keep the person with Alzheimer's engaged and not bored. Since caregiving is a strenuous and full-time occupation, the fact that the system is available 24 hours a day and from the home is very important. The caregivers reported that they felt better informed and less isolated when they used the system.

Education and Training

The fourth core value is education and training and Dillon Montana, a town of 10,000, is the unlikely location of this case study. In 1988 Frank Odasz of Western Montana University, started the Big Sky Telegraph in order to link 100 one-room schools in rural Montana. Frank now has 1000s of lesson plans, curriculums, and other educational material on-line in addition to facilitating communication among teachers. Although New York is the opposite of rural Montana in many ways, teaching in either place is challenging and community network technology could help teachers share information as well as words of advice and encouragement.

Teachers around the country - not just rural Montana - are developing creative ways to use network technology in their classes. For example there is a science fiction writing workshop on-line as well as an annual sonnet writing contest. There are also good examples in the adult literacy area and in science education. Students from all over the US and the world are cooperating on science projects in ways that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. One of these projects involves the collection and analysis of rain. Students all over the United States are sharing data to study the spread of acid rain.

Economic Equity and Opportunity

The fifth core value is economic equity and opportunity and the division between rich and poor in this country is a significant barrier to the development of democratic and community institutions. Paul Resnick and Mel King in their proposal for a telephone-based community network system in Boston make a case for sharing community information.

"There is no such thing as a poor community. Even neighborhoods without much money have substantial human resources. Often, however, the human resources are not appreciated or utilized, partly because people do not have information about each other and about what their neighborhood has to offer. For example, a family whose oil heater is broken may go cold for lack of knowledge that someone just down the block knows how to fix it."

Community-oriented "want-ads" and other economically oriented services such as job notices, notices of job training workshops, or even on-line training could help address these needs. In Seattle, people are realizing that most resources to help people find jobs or start and grow businesses are underused by the population that has the most to gain from them and we're hoping that services and information on public access community networks can help that process.

Information and Communication

The sixth and last core value is information and communication . Note that this core value describes the traditional role of electronic communication. I've included it last because I want to suggest that we don't think of information and communication as an independent core value - but as one among many.

I have two examples that show some of the diversity that those systems can offer in the way of information and communication.

The first example is a system called MISANET which is being developed by the Media Institute of South Africa, an organization of the South African regional independent press. MISAnet is intended to address a number of important issues in north- south information flows. For one thing the news that's disseminated in Africa is "mediated by the news agendas of London, New York, and Atlanta, Georgia. And MISANET - in their own words - is the starting point and the catalyst "for breaking free of those constraints." Also - African press is virtually disconnected from other major news flows. Communication costs there are very high: approximately $20.00 for a three minute call from Johannesberg and about half that for the same call in the opposite direction. The same message as e-mail can be reduced to five cents! Although continental in scope this system is motivated by many of the same concerns we have in smaller communities and neighborhoods.

The second example, MADNESS, is a communication service for "people who experience mood swings, fright, voices, and visions." MADNESS is an electronic distribution list - or listserv - which allows anyone who subscribes to the list to send electronic mail to the listserv and the listserv which automatically distributes that mail to all the subscribers. In the words of the list creator, MADNESS "is used to further low-cost exchange of information to serve cohesion and mutuality, and increased power" for those with those who have those experiences. According to the list's founder "There is an intention to involve users of mental health services in their services and to have users directing their own care." The themes of participation and community control arise again and again.

The Community Network Movement

Is there a Community Network Movement? Over a year ago, Apple Librarian, Steve Cisler, stated that "it could honestly be called a movement." Since then the number of Community Networks in operation (probably 50) and in development (probably over 100 systems) has doubled. New systems are being introduced every week. Community networks are being planned or are in operation in very large cities like Los Angeles, medium sized cities like Youngstown, Ohio, and tiny towns like Yachet, Washington.

Many of these community networks are loosely affiliated into one organization called the National Public Telecomputing Network or NPTN. I'd love to see one or more New York groups involved with this project.

Quotes from Free-Net Developers

I attended the "Ties That Bind" conference in Cupertino, California last month for community network developers and there were over 250 attendees. We all received a roster of attendees and there was a statement from each attendee stating what their interests are and what they hoped to get out of the conference. I'd like to read a few of them so you can get can get the flavor for what community network developers would like to accomplish.

development of civil society in post-apartheid South Africa

helping K-12 teachers learn to use the Internet

to ensure the participation of the neglected inner cities

a bulletin board for attendant care and housing for people with disabilities

service to underserved communities and to non-English speaking people

the use of community networks to ensure cultural diversity and inter cultural exchange on local and international levels

international computer network for environmental, social justice, human rights organizations

networking for animal rights

citizen-led community development projects ... needs of rural communities ... educational support for community development

increase substantive citizen deliberation on community issues ... our system of democracy can be put back in the hands of citizens

... grassroots groups and artists from the Appalachian mountains can gather on-line... and plan a sustainable future of the region

on-line services and community networks for off-reservation/urban American Indians.

community networks that serve the HIV+ and AIDS community.

If their words are any indication of their commitment then "Ties that Bind" people are natural allies to "Computers for Social Change" people. I'm afraid, however, that their naiveti - and mine! - is quite profound. This fact is being increasingly acknowledged. Mario Morino of the Morino Institute warned us at the conference that "the Community Network Movement is either an interim social phenomenon destined to implode or a vibrant force capable of adopting for success."

Advocating "social change" is easily said but infinitely more difficult to attain through action - talk is cheap. When the developers set off to do what they say they'll do, they will discover that the problems are not superficial - to be fixed with a comuter and a modem - but run very deep in our society. Every change will be resisted strenuously. We will find that the job is a lot tougher than we realized and we may not have the courage and stamina to enter a battle that by its very definition will never end.

The challenges to running a community network are many. There is a long list of tasks that must be done just to keep a system running. There are two immense tasks, however, that overshadow them all:

1. Working with information providers and social service agencies to ensure that useful information is available on the community network and that the network helps address the larger societal goals that have been outlined for it.

2. Working politically to ensure that there is space for community-oriented, participatory, and open community network systems. We don't want this option closed off before we've had a chance to develop it.

Information by itself is not power! We're drowning in information! However, we're hoping that the right type of information and communication in conjunction with community work, political organization, education, program development, and collaboration will lead to power.

Recommendations

Using Community Network Technology

Since the networking craze seems to be predominantly a middle class preoccupation we have to ask ourselves if economically disadvantaged people have any interest in using the services and if they'd use the services if they had inexpensive access to the services.

It's presumptuous to assert that they need and want these services just because middle class people with computers may need or want these services. On the other hand it's presumptuous to assert that they don't want or need them either.

Based only upon sparse information I can report that there are at least some people of limited means that are very interested in the technology. In Seattle, for example, we are working with two groups who are training disadvantaged groups to use computers and networking technology. Also - contrary to the expectations of some - there are quite a few homeless people that regularly use the public access terminals at the Seattle Public Library to access the Internet. Peter Miller of Playing to Win has told me of the strong interest in the electronic chat program by people who are just learning to read and write or who are learning English as a second language.

The LA. street gangs - the Bloods and the Crips - in the aftermath of the Rodney King riots produced a document that also supports this view. They issued a thoughtful four-part proposal calling for improvements that address all aspects of the six core values that are central to a community in this case - South Central Los Angeles. In the educational area they called for refurbishing of school structures, raising teachers' salaries, and $200 million for computers and computer supplies for area schools.

Of course access to technology can not be a substitute for other needs. The focus on computer technology only makes sense when considered within the entire social context.

People Who Don't Currently Use the Network

Right now the majority of people don't use the Internet or network services at all. I'd guess that this number is less than 10% and may be less than 5%. Although the barriers to using the technology vary from group to group and from person to person they can be characterized by a fairly short list:

* Useful services do not exist

* Not interested in services that do exist

* Don't know about services

* No access - at work, school, home, neighborhood - mobility is a problem

* Can't afford services

* Friends don't use it

* Fear, distrust or aversion to it

* Too busy - or too much information already

* Lack of expertise - language barrier or unfamiliarity with computers

My working hypothesis is, therefore that people would use the technology if three basic conditions were met:

1) That information and services existed that were useful and interesting to them;

2) That the system was easy to use;

3) That both public and private access locations were plentiful; and

4) That the costs were low

What Could Bring the Barriers Down?

Bringing the barriers down is a critical part of the job of community network developers. And working with people in the community - engaging them in dialogue - co-designing the system - and determining new services to offer - is the best way to do that.

Community networks in different cities will go about this in different ways. For example - in Seattle we've been working very closely with the Seattle Public Library and we're going to start a project with the public TV and radio stations in July. We're also working with neighborhood groups, youth groups, and environmental groups. Community network groups in other cities are working with universities or K-12 schools and with public access cable groups or community centers. The trajectory of the efforts will depend on the needs, interests, and opportunities that exist in the community.

Why Work on Community Networks?

As I hope I've made clear I do recognize great potential in the community network movement. Whether or not it succeeds - even partially - will depend on how effectively we can work together now.

If you're on the street dealing with real people and real issues, you're a lot closer than community network developers to the problems facing society. I'm hoping that you'll use your knowledge to educate the developers on what you've learned and that you'll work with them to help define a new coalition that incorporates social service and social change with democratic media and democratic technology.

The most important thing I can suggest to this audience is that you work where it makes sense with the community network developers. If there are not community network efforts in progress, then perhaps you can start one. A community network coalition made up of people in this room could be a powerful force.

Closing

Small Time Window

It's a common assumption in the Community Networking Movement that a very small window of opportunity currently exists. A national movement is growing rapidly. The public - goaded on by the government and the media - seems interesting if somewhat confused. The Internet computer network that connects millions of people is growing at an explosive rate. The technology is becoming less expensive all the time. And Clinton and Gore keep talking about an "Information Superhighway."

While the Clinton-Gore administration is very hot on all things networked, their focus on the Market as the key to equity and opportunity is misguided. While the market will, of course, play a huge part in the development of an Information Superhighway, the market is incapable of bringing about the sort of changes that we've been discussing at this conference. What's the economic incentive for providing the poor with services they need but can't afford?

All we have to do is think about what we see on commercial television or hear on the radio - neither of which is participatory in any way, shape or form. Or think about the monopolization of the media in this country where 23 corporations control the majority of the movies, daily newspapers, magazines, television, and radio. This monopolization of the media effectively defines the agenda and citizens become hapless consumers.

Things are happening right now. The federal government is spending 26 million dollars this year through the National Telecommunications and Information Agency -- or NTIA -- for development and planning for Information Superhighway projects and there is talk about $100 million next year. The corporations - the giants who slept through the development of the Internet - all have merger mania and they're all desperately trying to figure out how to thrive in the brave new netted world. The Internet - the international test-bed for these concepts - is growing at about 12% a month - doubling roughly every 6 1/2 months. This is the overheated environment that we find ourselves involved with and we must act now or be brushed aside. As Will Rogers said, "even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you don't move.

As the new chair of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility I am going to do what I can to make this our primary focus. A major part of this effort would be to work together with all of you in small and large projects over both the short and long run.

I'd like to close with some words from Hannah Levin's essay on "The Struggle for Community Can Create Community" from which the title for this talk originated.

In moving society forward, many different communities may be destroyed or die, but for the survival of mankind we must not capitulate to the concept that the sense of community is dead. The most binding, vital, and healthy sense of community may be generated through this struggle.

Thank you.