Chapter One
Introduction

This research was inspired by the new phenomena of Community Networks. These can also be described using labels such as; ‘Civic Networking’, ‘Community Bulletin Boards’, ‘Telecommunity systems’, ‘FreeNets’, and ‘CivicNets’. These online communities combine social networks with information technology in a unique way. This integration of Computer Mediated Communication with local activities proposed an interesting area for investigation. Through a review of the literature on Community Networks it is apparent there have been few case studies carried out, especially in Britain. It also emerged through the literature that a key purpose of Community Networks is to enhance social capital in the community. Taking this idea the research question: ‘Can Community Networks enhance social capital?’ was formulated. Combining this with a case study, the research problem to be examined is:

Can the creation of Community Networks enhance social capital in rural Scotland?

From this question stem other questions to be investigated, such as;

Can new technologies be employed to enhance communities?

What do community networks provide, and who uses these networks?

To what extent can the use of Community Networks create social capital in rural communities?

I aim to answer these questions through the course of my research.

The hypothesis of this research is that Community Networks can enhance social capital through building networks between community members. This will be tested by qualitative and quantitative research methods and reinforced through a review of the literature. Throughout the research ‘community’ will be defined as: Interaction through common interests, reinforced by: unity, intimacy, shared morals, and freedom of expression. ‘Community’ will be discussed alongside social capital which, for the purpose of this research, will be defined as: integration and collaboration through social norms and networks of trust.

Morino (1999:1) defines community networking as:

‘...a process to serve the local geographical community - to respond to the needs of that community and build solutions to its problems’.

Community Networks are being created and improved at an increasing rate. These web sites provide a community with a window to the world wide web. Tourists, or anyone with an interest in the area, can log onto a community’s web site to find out about the area’s climate, location, population, employment, accommodation, and any other information posted. Community Networks are different from interest-based networks, as the information is geographically specific. Community Networks are generally run co-operatively for the benefit of the local community. Effectively, they are electronic news providers updated everyday, with facilities to debate issues or link onto wider resources.

This research into Community Networks investigates Scotland’s contribution to Community Networks, focusing on one specific example. Therefore, this study is not representative and does not aim to be. I began researching Community Networks by searching the Internet. There are over 250 community web sites in Scotland and the numbers continue to rise. Many sites, although extremely informative, had no bulletin board service hence providing information only. However, eventually I did manage to find some web pages that fitted the criteria for a community network. ‘Caithness Community Web Pages’ are the most sophisticated example of community networking I have found.

Caithness is a large county in the North East of Scotland, encompassing two main towns Wick and Thurso. This rural community hosts a web site providing a wide range of local and national information, links, photographs, newsletters, recreational and educational pages.

The site began in 1999 and has been rapidly expanding for the past two years. It began slowly based around the need to supply information on local voluntary groups. A grant from the Local Enterprise Company (CASE) funded training to learn about building web sites. The team set out to build immediately with priority given to the voluntary sector.

The sites facilitator purposely did not apply for grants as he suspected his ideas were too radical for funding bodies to cope with and perceived a traditional business page would have hindered the site. The site is run from an office in a free Community Education room, and also from volunteers homes. Computers have been gathered from the ‘Volunteer Link Project’, also the Community Care forum pay for a computer and telephone bill. The site is well structured, well maintained, expanding, and popular as a promoter of tourism. It is slowly becoming accepted into the community as the key information portal.

This research combines participant observation, interviewing, and statistics on users. Reinforced by social capital theory and the role of information technology this study of an online community aims to measure the contribution ‘Caithness Community Web Site’ makes to the local community, global community, and assess the implications of this as a form of social capital.

We will now go on to examine and discuss the theories and literature on this subject.

Chapter 2 ->>>