Susie Bullock
Instructor

Jacqui Lockaby
Assistant Professor

Cindy Akers
Assistant Professor
Texas Tech University

Background

From the beginning of time, humankind has exhibited tendencies toward
socialization. As populations grow, the issue of community arises. In an
effort to bring consensus to the definition of community, George Hillery, Jr.
(1955) subjected 94 sociological definitions of the term 'community' to
qualitative and quantitative analysis. In the interest of clarity and brevity,
this study will use Hillery's definition based on the 1955 research. The
sociological term 'community' should be understood here as meaning
(1) a group of people (2) who share social interaction (3) and some
common ties among themselves and the other members of the group (4)
and who share an area for at least some of the time. In this case, the
Internet is the shared area, giving definition to the term 'online' or 'virtual
community.'

Howard Rheingold (1993) argues the development of virtual communities
is 'in part a response to the hunger for community that has followed the
disintegration of traditional communities around the world.' Citizens build
communities for the purposes of survival, commerce and entertainment
(Cohill & Kavanaugh, 2000).

New technologies, such as computers and the Internet (Gromov, 1998)
give birth to innovative ideas which grow much the same as infants grow
into adults - in jumps and starts. Historical events often serve as
catalysts for latent or immature ideas to develop. Having compromised
the very structure of American society, including its transportation system,
security, economic stability, and overall sense of well-being, the terrorists'
attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon struck the core of two
of America's largest and most influential communities, New York and
Washington, D.C. The events of September 11, however, could be the
occurrence that catapults the concept of virtual community into maturity.
Can society, in general, and agriculture, specifically, build virtual
communities that will satisfy the needs of their members as well as
traditional communities have? If so, at what levels?

In the words of M. Scott Peck (1987) in The Different Drum:
Community-Making and Peace:

We know the rules of community; we know the healing effect of community
in terms of individual lives. If we could somehow find a way across the
bridge of our knowledge, would not these same rules have a healing
effect upon our world? We human beings have often been referred to as
social animals. But we are not yet community creatures. We are impelled
to relate with each other for our survival. But we do not yet relate with the
inclusivity, realism, self-awareness, vulnerability, commitment, openness,
freedom, equality, and love of genuine community. It is clearly no longer
enough to be simply social animals, babbling together at cocktail parties
and brawling with each other in business and over boundaries. It is our
task, our essential, central, crucial task - to transform ourselves from
mere social creatures into community creatures. It is the only way that
human evolution will be able to proceed. (p. 165)

Perhaps the Internet is or will provide the bridge of which Peck speaks. In
the preface of Online Communities: Commerce, Community Action, and
the Virtual University, Werry and Mowbray (2001) confirm that online
communities have become increasingly important in commerce,
education, and the nonprofit sector. Further, online communities are an
international phenomenon.

At the end of William Mitchell's book City of Bits (1995) there is an image
of a near future in which 'bitsphere planners and designers' shape the
interfaces through which commerce, education, and community take
place. He writes:

For designers and planners, the task of the twenty-first century will be to
build the bitsphere - a worldwide, electronically mediated environment in
which networks are everywhere. This unprecedented, hyperextended
habitat will transcend national boundaries; the increasingly dense and
widespread connectivity that it supplies will quickly create
opportunities - the first in the history of humankind - for planning and
designing truly worldwide communities. (p. 167)

Currently in the United States there are an astonishing number of
grassroots projects in the area of Internet communication technology.
Werry and Mowbray (2001) suggest that now is the time for a concerted
effort to weave these projects - heretofore disconnected - into a tapestry
of compelling community strength and creativity.

The U.S. Department of Commerce TIIAP awards
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/tiiap/) showcase the diversity and
creativity of these projects. However, Seattle, Washington, has emerged
with the reputation of having more than its share of such communities.
Developers of the Seattle projects have found that almost every aspect of
the typical community, be it urban or rural, is deliverable via the Internet.
Non-profit associations are at the center of many of the Seattle projects.

Existing virtual communities now contain tools for delivery of education
through the collaboration of virtual universities. Communication systems
made possible through free public Internetworks stand as counterparts to
a traditional community's telephone system. The Web is an instant
source for members of the community to retrieve information on subjects
of personal relevance. These virtual communities even tap leadership by
way of public advisory boards. Residents can socialize by visiting Internet
Cafes and can seek out the entertainment from every genre imaginable to
suit their personal tastes. Citizens of virtual communities can access
unbiased information through independent media on the Web. Most
community newspapers now have a Web presence.

With this trend in mind, the leadership of the Cooperative Communicators
Association (CCA) launched a project in 1999 known as 'Virtual CCA.'
CCA is an international association of 350 communications specialists
employed by or working in a freelance capacity on behalf of cooperatives.

The association's expanding worldwide membership brought unique
challenges to the forefront. The challenges related to the organization's
ability to deliver the products, information, and services for which it is
known. Cooperatives did not escape the effects of a weakening economy
that deflated the marketing, communication, professional development,
and travel budgets of most businesses. Shrinking budgets caused
managers to rethink how the budget pie was divided as the downturn hit
businesses connected with agriculture particularly hard. The membership
rolls of non-profit professional organizations began to suffer as well
because of the members' inability to participate fully as a result of
restricted funds.

While other professional development groups were hiring additional staff
and building brick-and-mortar office locations during the mid-1990s, CCA
leaders watched an emerging trend among communicators using
electronic mail to speed their communications along. Increased
demands on communicators to do more with less forced the creatives of
some of the largest cooperatives in the world to jump past the
brick-and-mortar frenzy. In August of 2000, CCA reached a milestone in
that 100 percent of its membership had access to the World Wide Web.
As the cost of operating increased, growth in membership seemed to
stagnate. The view of the board and informal surveys among the
membership indicated a need to increase services while keeping
operating budgets in check. Members seem to be looking for more
opportunities to train, socialize, and exchange information with other
members of this community of cooperative communicators.

One of the largest items on CCA's budget was the cost of producing its
newsletter, CCA News. CCA members indicated that, similarly, the
managers of their own cooperative employers were scrutinizing the
company's communication or newsletter budget.

Results of an informal survey conducted by its Research Committee
indicated that almost 70 percent of CCA members would enjoy getting
CCA News via the Internet. However, some who had Internet access but
were less comfortable using it voiced concern that CCA might be leaving
communicators from smaller shops behind with the new technology.
Typically, the smaller one-person communication shops have smaller
budgets and are less able financially to take advantage of the newest
innovations.

After much discussion, the CCA board commissioned the CCA Editorial
Committee to determine a course of action. The committee's task was to
determine the readership preference of all its membership both in
method of delivery and preferred content. The following proposed
research is based on the CCA Editorial Advisory Committee's resolve to
determine the:

- readership level of the black-and-white printed version of CCA News
compared to that of a Portable Document Format (pdf) version of the
same newsletter delivered online

- transition period needed to move the organization's membership to an
online newsletter

- transition process preferred by CCA's members

- level of familiarity with pdf files

- educational programs necessary to make the transition from printed
newsletter delivered via regular post to online newsletter delivered via
e-mail.

Method

CCA membership meets the criteria of Hillery's definition of a community,
and 100 percent of the members having access to the Internet makes
them excellent subjects for virtual community research. Its 350 members
share social interaction in their committee work whether the contact is in
person, by phone, or by e-mail. Additionally, many participate in the annual
educational institute where they meet face-to-face. Some regions also
conduct regional workshops that are gatherings of smaller groups that
have geography in common. All are members of the CCA listserv and may
communicate at the drop of an e-mail message to all other members of
the community. They have in common the desire to improve the
communications skills they use daily in promoting the cooperative form of
doing business. Many of their cooperatives are involved in agriculture.
Most have at least a connection to rural America.

The proposed research involves taking a census of the 315 active
members of the organization to determine which method of delivery they
prefer. The CCA staff will deliver three issues of the 2002
newsletter - January, February and March - through the traditional postal
service delivery system. For these three issues of the newsletter the staff
will run parallel versions in pdf format both in black and white and in color.
The pdf versions will go as an attachment or link in an e-mail message
sent on the CCA listserv.

With each format of the January and February issues, readers will get
notice that they will be asked to evaluate the delivery system as well as
the format via an online survey that will go out with the March issue.
Researchers will retrieve data using a Web-based survey instrument and
will analyze the data using the SPSS program.

Results

We will present the results of this study to key leaders of the Cooperative
Communicators Association. This group cuts across the agriculture
industry with participation from cooperatives representing many
commodity groups. Membership includes communicators specializing in
dairy, farm supply, credit unions, rural electricity, telecommunications,
corn, grain sorghum, cotton, sugar, livestock, rice, soybean, insurance,
Farm Credit, consumer products, housing facilities, citrus fruit, grapes,
almonds, and cranberries. The nature of the group and reliability of the
data should render the results transferable to other professional
agricultural communications organizations. Researchers will gain insight
into the likelihood that virtual communities will accept online delivery of
their communications pieces, such as newsletters.

Bottom line implications of this project are great. If data establish that
members prefer or can be encouraged through education to move to
online production and delivery of their newsletter, CCA will save
approximately $5,000 annually on printing costs and $2,000 on postage
for a total savings of $7,000 annually. Freeing up budget dollars will allow
the association to direct these funds toward expanding its Web site as a
virtual meeting place for the CCA community.

Conclusions

Many non-profit organizations, including commodity groups, produce and
distribute member newsletters on a regular basis. Most also continue to
be very budget conscious. Replication of this research and resulting
educational process among other non-profit organizations will have
strong budgetary implications.

This research may have additional implications for rural development.
Because an organization's communicators frequently are the
gatekeepers of what its clientele read, hear, and view via the media, it
seems logical that the communicators would be key influences in
providing tools for communicating with and further building virtual
communities. Recent statistics (USDA, 2000) show that 43 percent of
farmers in the United States now have Internet access. The goal of this
study is to establish a bridge for building virtual communities in rural
America to accomplish the social and economic agendas of agriculture.

Because written communications pieces often constitute the first and
sometimes the only common element among members of a community,
research into Web delivery of these communications pieces are a logical
starting place for research on virtual communities. However, the concept
of virtual communities may have far-reaching implications for Cooperative
Extension Service and other agricultural organizations as well.

The Internet will become more than just an information delivery or
reporting system. It may evolve into a comfortable gathering place where
professional communities will establish themselves, complete with virtual
communications networks, educational facilities, meeting sites,
recreational areas, networking capabilities, and bulletin boards. The
feeling of belonging and contributing to a true community may well
enhance the job satisfaction and performance of its members.

If researchers can establish the reliability and validity of this simple
research project with cooperative communicators, the research can then
be replicated with each element of any given community to determine
what common ground exists. If residents of the Cooperative Extension
Service, non-profit organizations and/or small rural communities can
harvest from the Internet the benefits previously delivered by traditional
communities, where one resides physically will become irrelevant.

For most of the 20th Century, rural America suffered while the
metropolitan areas grew. An exodus occurred when agriculture declined.
Farm size increased, efficiency of agriculture skyrocketed, and workers left
the farm. The bridge provided by the Internet in the 21st Century may
provide a passage for the return of those forced to leave rural America in
search of jobs, enhanced socialization, education, and cultural activities.
Opportunities available in the past only in metropolitan areas may now be
available even to those who choose to reside in small rural communities.

In the 20th Century, the electric cooperative's delivery of electricity to the
farm revolutionized country living. It appears that with the increased rate of
delivery of the Internet to the farm in the 21st Century, another revolution
may be afoot in rural America.

References

Cohill, M. A., & Kavanaugh, L.A. (2000). Community networks: Lessons
from Blacksburg, Virginia (2nd ed.). Boston: Artech House.

Hillery, G. A. (1955). Definitions of Community: Areas of Agreement. Rural
Sociology, 20 (2), 118.

Gromov, G. R. (1998). History of the Internet and WWW: The roads and
crossroads of Internet history. Retrieved September 28, 2001, from
http://www.netvalley.com/intval.html

Peck, M.S. (1987). The different drum: Community-making and peace.
New York: Touchstone.

Rheingold, H. (1993). The virtual community: Homesteading on the
electronic frontiers. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics
Service, Agricultural Statistics Board. (2001). Farm computer usage and
ownership. June 2001 Agricultural Survey (released July 30, 2001).

Werry, C. & Mowbray, M. (2001). Online Communities: Commerce,
Community Action, and the Virtual University , Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.