Hardly anyone, according to many of the people who manage the sites. The Loudoun Democrats are typical, with fewer than 3,000 guests this year, although they said the page has recruited 10 new party members. May. Such statistics haven't discouraged local Web page designers, who are focused on predictions that the number of people wired to the Internet worldwide will grow from nearly 10 million now to about 150 million by 2000. But we realize that we're not targeting a huge audience. Government and corporate sites, by contrast, can involve hundreds of pages and cost thousands of dollars a year.
Local sites range from the amazingly useful and amusing to the thoroughly banal.
Some have sound, video and sophisticated graphics. Others allow users to troll through government databases or watch videotapes of traffic on the Capital Beltway. Some of the most impressive local sites are built by individuals. Although some sites are interactive, offering message boards and electronic feedback, most are simply one-way roads off the information superhighway leading to reams of information. If we don't keep things fresh and exciting, we'll lose our audience.