ABSTRACT
The residents of Blacksburg, Virginia are wired. Over 70 percent of the town’s residents congregate, communicate, and consume using the town’s unique community network, the Blacksburg Electronic Village (or, as it is commonly referred to, the BEV). They come together in mailing lists, local Usenet newsgroups, and chat rooms to discuss issues both local and global. They go online to browse through the minutes of last week’s city council meeting, to check which films are playing at the local theaters, and to e-mail the city to discontinue public services when they go on vacation. And with a simple point-and-click, they order a dozen roses from Wade’s Flower Shop, check the weekly seafood specials at Bogen’s, and download two-for-one bowling coupons for Triangle Lanes.
