Community Networking

Community networking is the use of computer networks to share information and deepen connections among residents of a local community.

Beginning in the mid-1970s, some people believed that emerging computer networks could be used to serve local community needs. Since that time, the use of computer networks as a community communication medium has taken many forms, and been called by many names: community networks, local bulletin boards, civic networking, telecottages, community information systems, community computing, community telecomputing, Freenets, and more. Whatever form or name community networking takes, it emphasizes several goals: increasing involvement in the life of the community; advancing local issues; providing a space for local news, announcements, and information; empowering residents politically and economically; and (in most cases) connecting members of the community to the Internet at no cost or for a minimal fee.

Community networking is often a joint project between groups concerned with universal access to information, such as public libraries, universities, public access television stations, and local governments, as well as private individuals. While these partnerships sometimes include for-profit businesses such as cable and telephone companies, community networks themselves are typically non-profit organizations.

The first community network, called the Community Memory of Berkeley, California, was created in 1974. It could be accessed only from public terminals in the libraries and laundromats of Berkeley. Terminals were coin operated, charging $0.25 to post a message or $1.00 to start a new discussion group (just reading a message had no charge). The only information on the community network was input by people physically in Berkeley.

As advances in computer and communication technologies began to make larger and larger networks possible, community networking spread. Bulletin board systems (BBSs), which allowed access to a computer over standard telephone lines, first appeared in 1978. Anyone with a computer and a modem could access any community network, but the cost of long-distance phone calls kept many people from calling BBSs outside of their area. The first community BBS was Old Colorado City, which began in 1980. Most of the early community networks started out as telenet-working projects, including St. Silicon's Hospital of Cleveland in 1984 (the precursor to the Cleveland Free-Net), Big Sky Telegraph of Montana in 1988, and the Public Electronic Network (PEN) of Santa Monica in 1989. Still others, like the University of Illinois' PLATO, evolved unexpectedly, while the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link (WELL), founded by Larry Brilliant and Stewart Brand in 1985, had a far greater impact than anticipated.

In the mid-1990s, with the rapid growth and expansion of the Internet, most community networks moved their information to the World Wide Web. This meant that their services could be accessed easily through graphical browsers, rather than relying on text-only menu systems such as Gopher. At the same time, however, a paradox emerged. Community networks provide low-cost or free access to the Internet so community members can access local information and get involved in local issues. But by moving to the Internet, the community networks made it even easier for residents to look beyond their local communities. They could access information from around the globe, engage in correspondence with people on different continents, or get involved in issues that matter to them personally but are of little or no relevance to their neighbors. Nonetheless, the backers and visionaries driving community networking still insisted that the Internet could help rebuild local communities.

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