Presentations
Seungahn Nah, Gary Hansen, and Randy Weckman, Building Community through the Internet: A Case of the Kentucky Citizen Media Project (KCMP). Rural Sociological Society, August 2-5, Santa Clara, California, 2007.
Abstract
Relying on such theories as community communication ecology and social capital, this study aims to build a theoretical and analytical framework that can empirically test the effects of the Internet on local communities in terms of social capital, such as social networks, trust, and reciprocity; civic knowledge and skills; leadership; and community engagement. Specifically, this study will initiate a citizen media through the Internet in Robertson County, Kentucky, which has no local media outlet but does have a Wi-Fi wireless network system. The Kentucky Citizen Media Project (KCMP) embedded in this study will train local residents to become citizen journalists who can report community issues and problems from their perspectives, which in turn may lead to public discussion and civic engagement. In doing so, the KCMP will develop and institutionalize the online 'community information commons' that can be applied to and/or replicated in other local communities, especially rural ones lacking local media outlets.
Key words: The Internet, community communication ecology, social capital, The Kentucky Citizen Media Project (KCMP), civic knowledge and skills, leadership, and community engagement.
Seungahn Nah, Kathryn Ellis, Donna Hancock, Jesse Horn, and Randy Weckman, The Internet and Farmers' Markets: The Impact of Structural Pluralism on the Internet Adoption by Farmers' Markets. Southern Rural Sociological Association, February 3-7, Mobile, Alabama, 2007.
Abstract
Community structural pluralism, defined as the degree of diversification within the community, has been of importance to the relationship between structural features and their impact on community organizations' activities. Relying on the theory, this study examines how community structural pluralism can affect the Internet adoption by U.S. farmers' markets. Data were collected using secondary data analyses from various sources, such as Marketing Services Branch of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and US Census. Then, community structural pluralism index was created by a summary of the 50 U.S. states' rank position on three characteristics, such as population, per capita income, and percent of residents with a bachelor's degree or higher educational level. The result reveals that farmers markets in more pluralistic states have a greater ratio of Websites than ones in less pluralistic states. This study confirms the theory of community structural pluralism and its impact on the adoption of new communication technologies by community organizations.
Key words: Community structural pluralism, the Internet, and farmers' markets