West Virginia ranks near the bottom of the list of states in PC usage and broadband accessibility and adoption. However, the Marketing Genius blog just highlighted the fact that Charleston, WV, is the leader in eBay usage among Internet users according to a recent Scarborough Research report (requires Adobe Reader). Forty-four percent of Internet-using adults in the Charleston area visit eBay, highest in the country (NOTE: This does not necessarily mean Charleston has the highest percentage of eBay users per capita, because we still have a lower percentage of people using the Internet than the national average).
Broadband service providers in the state often point out that even when they bring service to a region in West Virginia, they don't get as high a take rate as they find in other states. There is of course a high correlation between income levels and use of broadband, which hampers West Virginia's broadband adoption.
eBay, according to Scarborough, is a highly-attractive Internet site for rural Internet users because it opens the door to a broader selection of products not available to rural shoppers locally. Think of eBay as the digital equivalent of the old Sears catalog in that regard (people actually bought pre-fab housing kits from Sears catalogs back in the day). As the Marketing Genius blog points out, this should be a signal to local retailers that an ecommerce presence is important to reach more of WV's rural shoppers, as well as shoppers around the world. One of the favorite anecdotes told regarding the power of getting more of our citizens online is the story of a senior citizen from Gilmer County who learned she could sell her quilts to customers around the world on eBay...and for a much higher price than people were willing to pay her at the local festivals!
But other "killer apps" - those services that are most powerful in driving demand for Internet use - include e-government, e-learning and healthcare services. In the e-government category, West Virginia's state government could be a more aggressive provider of online services that improve efficiency and convenience for taxpayers (e.g., more online licensing renewals vs. standing in line). Once again, we rank in the lower levels of states providing these services. However, state Chief Technology Officer Kyle Shaffer has been leading an important effort to develop a comprehensive online portal for the state that would streamline the current confusing array of state web sites and improve overall e-government services.
eBay is a great excuse for more state residents to join the 21st century and get online, but there is so much more for citizens to discover. Couldn't e-learning dramatically improve the academic offerings of our rural high schools? Couldn't we drastically improve the healthcare options of older rural residents? Here's hoping that our leaders at state and local levels become much more innovative and aggressive in providing convenient online services that give more West Virginia citizens a good reason to join the global community via broadband connectivity.
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