Mediating Commons

Diffusion of innovation theorizes on how human beings adopt new communication technology, but it fails to take into account the institutional factors involved in the process. In this study involving new communicational technology use in a small Greek rural village, it is determined that the village cafe, as the central socializing element in the community, plays a powerful role in dissemination of new communicational devices, or what this article conceptualizes as `mediating commons’. Such mediating commons social institutions as the village cafe play a significant role in encouraging the adoption of new communication products; without such a mediating commons in a community, adoption rates may reduce significantly and lead to a spreading digital divide.