The Seattle Community Network

"Many organizations are realizing, like Dorothy did of the Wizard of Oz, that technology isn't magical," says Doug Schuler, a professor at The Evergreen State College. "They've seen the man behind the curtain."

Schuler, a former Boeing engineer, and his colleagues at the local chapter of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) say the "man behind the curtain" is only the nuts and bolts, or the tools of the communication system. It needs to be given flesh and blood by citizens. So CPSR started the Seattle Community Network (SCN) in order to give ordinary citizens access to the same tools businesses have. They worked in collaboration with the Seattle Public Library to make it accessible to all. SCN equipment is housed in the downtown library, and volunteers perform its staff functions. Many of them are computer professionals who want to use their skills for more meaningful work than their day jobs allow.

So far, 13,000 citizens have registered to use the network, which offers free e-mail and web pages. One user even found a new, safe place to live, through the Network's housing forum, when her living situation became dangerous. "SCN, in a way, saved my life!" she said. Another Seattle Community Network user found out about the network at a free workshop on the Internet at the Henry Library on Capitol Hill. "The Seattle Community Network allowed me to participate in the e-mail revolution without the necessity of owning my own computer," he said. Not only did he become a participant on National Public Radio's "Science Friday" program after e-mail exchanges with host Ira Flatow, but he also used the Internet to plan a trip to Europe where his electronic music won recognition at an international festival. Another Seattle Community Networker credits the network with helping him land his current job as a technical support person for a software company.

"The SCN policy of mentoring new information providers saved the day, as I was starting from scratch," said another user, who wrote and maintains two web pages, one for her church, and one for the Vintage Telephone Equipment Museum. The network has literally made the museum, entirely run by volunteers, visible to the community and the world. Visitors frequently say they found the museum through the web. Equipment has been donated from aficionados in four states, and funds were raised as a result of the museum's virtual presence.

According to Carolyn Lukensmeyer, the Seattle Community Network is a model for how a community can come together to provide access to technology (through the public library) and structured dialogue (through citizen-initiated forums). Lukensmeyer is founder of America Speaks, a national organization which works to integrate face-to-face deliberation with creative uses of technology to "revitalize American democracy." "But don't call SCN technology," she suggests. "Call it citizen advocacy."

"I am very grateful to the generous folks at SCN for making democratic access to the web their mission," one user said. "Because of this, I have become a great supporter of free nets and community-based telecommunication projects."

Those include such projects as Charlotte's Web in Charlotte, N.C.; the granddaddy of community networks, the Santa Monica, Calif., Public Electronic Network (PEN); and East Palo Alto's Plugged In project, in which youth from the poorest section of the Silicon Valley consult as paid website designers. Others are listed in Doug Schuler's seminal book on community networks, New Community Networks: Wired for Change. Successful on-line citizen democracy is most likely to be based on neighborhoods and existing communities of interest, says Schuler. For example, he suggests getting a group of neighbors, kids, and graduate students to interview and photograph business owners. Put them on a neighborhood web page (available free on SCN). Map the community's assets. Point out its problems. People will begin to use the page as a way to strengthen community and solve problems, not unlike an interactive community newspaper-cum-bulletin board. For example, Seattle Fremont neighborhood home page not only lists cultural events, but hosts discussions on arts and community issues and invites neighbors to generate ideas to improve the neighborhood. The Ballard neighborhood hosts a Ballard Net.

But for all its strengths, SCN has yet to fully fulfill its mission. Only a portion of its registered users regularly log on. Some of the forums lie moribund for some time, as often happens in computer bulletin board systems. The Network's technology has yet to be fully updated from its text-only roots to more web-based interactivity. Yet the system still works on a variety of computer systems which might not accept more updated software. Still, when public issues come up at elections, or when topics are hot, the network sizzles with citizen opinions, interpretations, and information.

SCN is dealing directly with many of the issues which worry Internet watchers nationally — including security and on-line behavior. For example, users must agree to a code of etiquette, or "netiquette," which states that members will not knowingly distribute information illegally (such as libelous or copyrighted material), harass (or "flame") individuals or organizations, or redistribute private e-mail without the original sender's permission. The organization's elected board oversees a "due process" for users who violate the rules, and protects the privacy of all members by refusing to release information about users or selling its mailing lists.