Telecommuting * By Robert Moskowitz
People tend to be social animals. That's why we live together in families, and why families clump together into tribes, clans, villages, towns, cities, and nations. Until recently, all this building-up of communities was based on physical propinquity. You generally had to be there, near everyone else, or a community just couldn't happen.
From the very beginning, of course, the process was facilitated by technology. That's why, even 2,000 years ago, you couldn't hold an empire together without high-quality roads, and why 20th century America developed into a huge mono-culture and mono-market--a coast-to-coast community--under the influence of telephones and television.
Today's telecommuting technologies, however, offer something even better than roads and television--nearly instant two-way and broadcast communications. Because these technologies eliminate most of the old reasons for physical travel, telecommuting technology is allowing the human species' predilection for community-building to develop through virtual instead of physical togetherness.
As a result, we're seeing the formation and growth of online "Telecommunities," people clumping together electronically because they share the same interests, enthusiasms, passions, and purposes, and who can now spend lots of time in electronic contact with those they consider of like mind--without the requirement of physical togetherness or the need for travel to make it so.
According to Dr. Charles Grantham, of the Institute For The Study Of Distributed Work in Walnut Creek, CA, a "Telecommunity" is simply a social entity made up of people who come together through shared interests, and who conduct a lot of their interaction electronically. Unlike individuals who merely dial into Web sites or consume other people's published materials, however, members of a telecommunity show a stable pattern of two-way interaction, basically talking to each other quite often and regularly.
Only a portion of these telecommunities are geographically spread out. Many of the most vibrant telecommunities are electronic echoes and extrapolations of a physical community--like Telluride or Taos--which is consciously seeking to offer its citizens a new dimension to their existing community via the Internet.
For people who already live near each other, like the citizens of Canby, OR, community interests naturally cluster around concerns of daily living, quality of life issues, local entertainment, and the like. When groups are spread out over thousands of miles, however, the telecommunities they form tend to start out around a different type of shared interest, perhaps more abstract, such as flower gardening or a professional concern.
"No matter how it starts, though," Grantham says, "it always ends up creating a larger and more dense social network for telecommunity members. And the larger and more dense your social network, the more friends you have to reach out to in times of trouble, and generally speaking the better off you are as a person."
Unfortunately, it's easier to talk about building a telecommunity than to actually do it. Everyone from the corner coffee vendor to the most prominent cancer doctor to the New Millenium's truest believer sincerely asserts they are "building a Telecommunity" on the Internet. Perhaps in a sense, they are.
But there must be a difference between a telecommunity based on a single commercial interest and a telecommunity that replicates and supports the complex web of social interactions we experience in our everyday lives. Shouldn't there be more to holding citizenship in a telecommunity than logging in every once it a while? For a telecommunity to have any real meaning, shouldn't individuals feel a sense of belonging, a willingness to share knowledge and privileges with others, some degree of ownership of the ongoing activities of the telecommunity, and a loyalty that drives them not only to shape the emerging telecommunity to meet their needs and reflect their values and priorities, but also drives them to defend it against others who seek to bend it to their own--different--purposes?
Despite the theorizing and hype, the details of what is and isn't a telecommunity, and how to make one work, are still waiting to be developed and thoroughly tested in the field. Grantham is anticipating the rise of "cyberspace community organizers" who can help people with naturally shared interests transform an electronic conversation into a true telecommunity.
And progress has already begun. Today there are many signs that new and stronger telecommunities are emerging, surviving, and growing. While there are too many telecommunities to list here, a brief discussion of several prominent and promising ones--including both compact and geographically diverse telecommunities--may prove enlightening.
This is an association of volunteers dedicated to improving the remote and rural community of Atikokan's access to information networks, particularly the Internet, reducing the cost of accessing these networks, and increasing the local understanding of and individual usage of these networks. The group is developing a local BBS (807/597-5265) and a home page on the Internet (http://atikokanlakeheadu.ca/). Check out http://atikokanlakeheadu.ca/ATIKPIC.HTML for some exciting pictures of the Canadian wild. Email contact is at couch.t@nodn.com .
A "Telecommunity Partnership Initiative" has been proposed by the Austin Telecommunications Commission as a catalyst for community and leadership cooperation during the 1997-98 fiscal year that will help in fulfilling a vision of Austin as a great 21st century American city.
Basically, the Initiative (discussed at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/telecom/intelcom.htm) calls for the city to develop an Austin-based telecommunity that is inspired but not controlled by technology. It proposes that Austin:
1) Deliver a network to people's homes, schools, libraries, hospitals,
and businesses;
2) Ensure that individuals can send as well as receive video information
and find other people's information easily;
3) Ensure that everyone, regardless of location, disability, or income
is connected to and can use the network; and
4) Ensure that Austin's health, education, job and community services
are available to everyone over the network.
The initiative proposes public debate on the shaping of this technology, and public action to create and enhance the physical community through the development of this all-new telecommunity.
The residents of Blacksburg have banded together to develop Blacksburg Electronic Village (http://www.bev.net). It's intended to provide a mechanism for individuals to stay aware of activities, issues, and opportunities around them. The home page offers links to the history of Blacksburg, lists of its local businesses and organizations, health care information, library and local government services. In addition, the electronic village supports discussion groups on topics of local interest and importance.
This is an electronic place (http://www.expatforum.com) for Americans living abroad, as well as expatriates of other nations, to get reliable information and services geared to their distinctive needs. For example, Expat Chat!--a collection of message boards organized into broad topics, discussions and messages, including Money and Personal Finance, The Expatriate Experience, conversations about five regions of the world, Travel, Announcements, and The Wander Inn--offers a place to meet others who live and work overseas, help those who are preparing to make the move, exchange info, and just plain network.
There are also discussions on "Jokes Heard 'Round The World," "Is There Life Out There for Expat Wives Other Than Shopping," "Food and Humor," "Reverse Culture Shock," "Connecting to the Internet on the Road," "How Do You Get Over Jet lag?" and "Top 10 Traveler's Ailments."
The goal is for expats, former expats, their friends and relatives to build and shape this online community. Their openness and willingness to swap tips and tales about living and working in a 'foreign' country is what will or won't make this telecommunity worthwhile.
A Jobs and Careers area offers both job postings and positions wanted sections. It will also contain discussions on general business issues (like hiring practices in various countries), career topics, and suggestions on "getting started" and "keeping busy."
For more information, contact: Jeff Freeburg, President, HR International, (617)575-0287, or email to: jeff@expatforum.com .
The purpose of this electronic forum (http://Telecommunity.santa-barbara.ca.us) is to bring together all sectors of the community, to provide examples of and ideas on how local electronic networks may facilitate economic development, educational, non-profit, governmental and cultural programs, and to explore better ways to make this happen.
This "Telecommunity" tries to be an expression of the belief that working together to improve local online connections improves the ability to collaborate person-to-person, group-to-group, and sector-to-sector. The overall goal: To share over the Internet the process of nurturing the Santa Barbara area.
The LIST is intended as a Web-based prototype telecommunity, a part of the Department of Energy's Digital SuperLab project. The initial test community is composed of the developers of LIST. As LIST Telecommunity applications and enabling infrastructure support software are developed, they'll be placed on the Web and tested. Some features are available only to registered Telecommunity members.
The Web page includes such topics as: "What's New in the Telecommunity," "Tour the TeleCommunity," a listing of LIST members, a LIST community calendar of meetings and conferences, a LIST community bulletin board, various LIST library and educational resources, LIST community entertainment, and even online shopping capabilities.
For more information about the LIST Telecommunity, email to village@c3.lanl.gov .
Victoria Telecommunity Network (http://freenet.victoria.bc.ca/vifa.html) is a community computing information system provided to the city of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, at no cost to users, by the Victoria Free-Net Association. This Telecommunity site, separate from the City of Victoria's own Web site, is maintained by donations from local sponsors and private citizens and by many volunteer hours.
It provides such services as community discussion groups, Web space for community organizations, links to the Greater Victoria Public Library (http://www.gvpl.victoria.bc.ca/) and the Vancouver Island Regional Library (http://www.virl.bc.ca/), and online databases.
For more information, email the Victoria Telecommunity Network at hq@freenet.victoria.bc.ca .
La Plaza de Taos telecommunity offers local residents and others such information as the community calendar, community services, education, government, a diabetes wellness connection, other health care and medical resources, local news and weather, links to local food and lodging services, and community arts and literature resources.
There are also links to recreation and entertainment, the "Storyteller of Taos," home and garden resources, transportation and utilities services, the telecommunity's virtual library and reference resources, lists of La Plaza users' homepages, various local business resources, and resources connected with society and culture, economic development, community networking, and travel and leisure.
Other services available to telecommunity users include banking and finance, history/social sciences resources, environmental and agricultural information, science resources, and employment opportunities.
The telecommunity Web site feature photos of local activities, and opportunities for users to add their own favorite links to the telecommunity's resource lists.
For more information about La Plaza de Taos telecommunity, email to: feedback@laplaza.org.
One curious aspect of all this telecommunity activity, Grantham points out, is that after a period of time people in telecommunities usually feel the need to get together face-to-face. Sometimes, they construct a local telework center that serves as a local gathering place. For telecommunities that are too spread out for local contact, people will often get on an airplane and go to an agreed-upon place to see each other.
"They feel," Grantham says, "the richness of their online interaction is enhanced by having some face-to-face interaction that supplements it."
Copyright © 1997 by Robert Moskowitz. All rights reserved.
For more information on the concept of Telecommunity, try...CyberSociety: Computer-Mediated Communication and Community Howard Rheingold's Home Page Center for the Study of Online Communities Free-Nets and Community Networks Big Sky Telegraph The Millennium Report: Communications as Engagement The UTNE Café Building Community in Cyberspace The British Columbia Community Networks Association Telecommunities Canada Inc. |