Thank you for the link! I really enjoyed the look into Chapleau. I think many readers will be drawn in by the computer ownership vs Internet access statistic…

…Similarly, 82% had home computers. Almost all such owners (88%) had Internet access at home. Among those with access, 50% used wireless mesh Internet at the time of the second survey, 41% had high-speed DSL, and 18% used slower-speed dial-up access. (Because some participants had more than one type of access, totals do not sum to 100%.)…

Interesting to hear the positive and negative reactions to the Internet. I think we’d find similar in Minnesota. Email is great for mobilizing volunteers, as you point out, and as one person noted in your report teens can be much more eloquent in text messages than in person these days – but there’s also the fear that kids will turn to gaming instead of home life and that (real life) interpersonal communication will diminish.

I did an entirely unscientific glimpse into Minnesota’s use of social media last year when the Daily Yonder wrote about Eric Gilbert’s study (included in your references). I found many of the same things – there were differences in use.
http://blandinonbroadband.org/2009/09/12/rural-use-of-social-media/

I hope you won’t mind if I add one more quote from your report, as it relates to the broadband adoption work being done by the Blandin Foundation. http://broadband.blandinfoundation.org/programs/programs-detail.php?intResourceID=1060

… However, opportunities for economic, social, and political engagement are based on skill as well as access (Hargittai & Hinnant, 2008; Stern et al., 2009). This is key because the mere presence of the high-speed Internet access in a locality does not guarantee equal inclusion…

Thanks again!