Building Community Social Capital w/ WiFi?

demosi asks: "I'm involved in the NOMAD project, which is described here. Part of the work involves determining how community wireless services can be best used to build social capital (i.e. whether something will have a positive affect on the productivity of a community and its members), by promoting communication in a trustworthy environment. We're asking Slashdot readers if they're involved in similiar projects and if they're interested in measuring the network effects of community WiFi across different countries and cultures?"

Comments

No formal site or project yet but...

[Dr.Dubious DDQ]

...as mentioned in this post from a little while back, I've been informally putting together a 'non-internet' wireless access point design as an experiment.

I actually have it working at a basic level (publically-accessible access point, dhcp to hand out IP addresses, BIND configured to hand out the AP's IP as the address for anything they type in [initially] so that they can get to it at any time, web server (to be loaded up with legally-free files for public download)...

Still more to add, but what I have so far does appear to work. I haven't had a chance to make use of it well yet though, to see if anyone uses it (I need to get a higher-powered 802.11b card that can take an external antenna).

If this sort of thing sounds interesting to people, I could try setting up a site devoted to the project somewhere...

the term "social capital"

[jacksonscottsly]

I'm not exactly how sure how much "social capital" wifi networks really build, given that most definitions of social capital that I have seen involve personal, physical human interaction with a sense of meaning behind it. According to Robert Putnam's book "Bowling Alone":

The term social capital itself turns out to have been independently invented at least six times over the twentieth century, each time to call attention to the ways in which our lives are made more productive by social ties

Still, most of their definitions seem to include a sense of physical interaction, as this seems almost a prerequisite in forming close human bonds. I've heard a lot of tales of people who've gained very personal relationships through chat and email, but the value of the relationships are not the same as those of physical interaction; in every case I have ever heard (though I'm sure there are, as with everything, exceptions to the contrary) those relationships that have moved from online to personal tend to fail quickly when the participants realize they simply cannot sign out of the relationship whenever needed. Quite the contrary to building social capital, many credit the internet, email, telephones, and the convenience of mass technological communication of constructing an impersonal world which is rapidly destroying social capital.

Social capital and the internet

[Anonymous Coward]

Bowling Alone is a great book but SOME forms of social capital work well over the internet. My effectiveness as a scientist is significantly enhanced by exchanging information with people I've never met. Responding to reasonable requests (e.g. for copies of papers, or for bacterial cultures useful in research) is part of global scientific culture, reinforced by the impact of one's reputation (which is enhanced by helping other scientists) on success in getting grants, jobs, and promotions. It helps that scientists can't use pseudonyms, at least not in their work, so your reputation follows you for life. See "Social Cost of Cheap Pseudonyms"
http://www.si.umich.edu/~presnick/pap ers/identifie rs/
Direct human interaction is still very important, though. Wifi may mean more people hanging out in coffee-houses, rather than accessing the internet from home, but will they talk to people around them?

Re:NO OFFENCE BUT THIS SOUNDS DUMB

[Anonymous Coward]

No offense, but if you are going to use big terms like "social capital", you should also know the difference between affect and effect.

Know what you are talking about before you speak

[MacFury]

He used the word "affect" properly if he meant emotional effect.

Me to.

[MacFury]

I am considering providing various parts of my relativley small town (16,000) with free WiFi. The only thing stopping me right now is time. Start a website devoted to the project.

Re:Know what you are talking about before you spea

[demosi]

Yes that's exactly what I meant. Read the post again. I'm perfectly aware of the difference between the two words and also the need for considered interpretation before I respond to something.

The 'dumbness' of the idea will be determined after we've collected our data, studies and analysed it.

Access To Information

[osewa77]

I'd say the good that can come from free access to information for the masses must not be underrated in the determination of what amounts to "social capital"!

'Social Capital?'

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, start using phrases like that and you might as well just go out and find yourself a nice frilly dress to wear, lady.

"Erm, but here's my proposal. Let's get tough. The time for talking is over. Call it extreme if you like, but I propose we hit it hard and hit it fast with a major - and I mean major - leaflet campaign, and while it's reeling from that, we'd follow up with a whist drive, a car boot sale, some street theatre and possibly even some benefit concerts. Okay?"

Re:'Social Capital?'

[demosi]

I'd prefer bridge to whist. I believe that it builds more social capital. I'm working on a rigorous scientific methodology to prove this and I'll have the results in about 2025. Seriously though, if you can look beyond the term social capital as some people find it too grandiose I genuinely believe that always-on mobile communications technologies CAN BE excellent at building rapport across organisations and communities. Co-op based WiFi schemes are also a fascinating development where people essentially reclaim a portion (however small) of their communications networks. Our study involves determining the good and bad features of these technologies and making recommendations to ensure it's a boost rather than a hindrance at work, play or rest...
A worthy aim and one we'll be pursuing for the next few months anyway.