Daily Herald Editorial

It may be the easiest and least expensive donation ever: Just join Austin’s Facebook-based effort to demonstrate community support for a super-fast fiber-optic internet connection and help the community win.

Austin is among the leaders in a national contest to show that it should be the place where Internet search giant Google installs and provides low-cost, ultra-fast connectivity. As of Wednesday afternoon, Austin ranked sixth among the competing communities; 14.46 percent of the community’s population have indicated their support for the effort on Facebook, just ahead of Topeka, Kan., at 13.88 percent and just behind Sarasota, Fla., at 16.3 percent. Every sign-up can make a difference.

The benefits to Austin of placing high enough to earn the prize are immense. In today’s marketplace, high speed internet service is a must for businesses and having it would put Austin in position to recruit new, high-tech employers. Clearly, such service would be a real boon to home users and existing businesses, as well.

There’s a link to the Facebook sign-up at googleaustinmn.com. There are also links at austindailyherald.com. Signing up to show support costs nothing, takes very little time and could bring huge benefits to the community. If the Herald’s chief editorial writer — no fan of social media — can manage to sign up, then anyone can. It’s worth it.