Negotiating Rurality & Modernity: Access to the Internet, the COVID-19 Pandemic, & Defining Culture in Appalachia

Abstract

This study aims to encapsulate the state of broadband services and their impact on community in a rural Appalachian region of Southeastern Ohio. Drawing on the results of a survey conducted by the Hocking Athens Perry Community Action Program (HAPCAP) and interviews with professionals in the area, this project illustrates an increasingly complicated relationship between rurality and modernity. The introduction of the Internet inspires conflicting evaluations of the potential pros and cons of improving broadband connections among rural residents, revealing the tension between the very definitions of rurality and modernity. The study paints a picture of rural culture and identity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling attention to a blurred space occupied by rural communities during the increasingly digital twenty-first century.