Calling all “Fiberhoods”: Google Fiber and the Politics of Visibility

Abstract

This essay examines the promise of transformation and initial outcomes of Google’s “Fiber for Communities” project in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. Through a discourse analysis of industry and popular press, press releases, Google’s official blog and YouTube channel, and user-generated content from Kansas City residents from 2010-2012, the essay highlights the ways in which Google promised to transform the image and significance of Kansas City, upgrade experiences of internet access and use, and experiment with new deployment models for large scale fiber optic infrastructure in the US. However, the author focuses on how the process of transformation rendered certain pre-existing digital divides and inequities more visible rather than erasing them.