Citizens are at different stages of awareness and technophobia is common. Use of technology often represents perceived threats to self-esteem. Philanthropic organizations, typically controlled by elderly boards, have been slow to understand what the Internet represents, and are threatened by the risks of potential access to pornography within projects they might fund. Many foundations and organizations with real leadership potential have backed away from any involvement in 'community networking,' unofficially finding it too difficult to define, facilitate, and evaluate. For those looking to create community networks, its vitally important to know what we don't know about human adaptation of Internet tools for social collaboration.
Human behavior changes slowly, as do social norms, expectations, and worldviews.
Interactive reading and writing is a fundamentally new communications medium, with, or without, web graphics and hyperlinks. Telling stories about how citizens are benefiting is the best way to encourage the media to help promote your community network and is the best way to help people understand the benefits of your network. Storytelling is your most powerful means of using the media to create interest and understanding, but the media tends to oversimplify issues and tends toward the glowing generalities that do little to facilitate understanding of the delicate social processes required to change social behavior, even for the betterment of all. Hundreds of very general, motivating articles have been written without making it clear exactly how people were using the technology to create social value. Money Changes Everything.