Good news, online
There is a proliferation of online interactive technologies like blogs, discussion boards, online communities, real time updates, and social network websites. They seem to attract people who like simulating relational activities without actual relationships. In the best cases, people accustomed to the small views of small worlds now see larger views and worlds. Even early on in the (r)evolution, all good news.
September 30th, 2007 21:06
Jack, there are plenty of Web networkers who are taking the next step - getting the online social networks to meet up in the physical world and relate to people face to face. Such is the philosophy behind BlogTogether.org here in North Carolina.
September 30th, 2007 22:51
Yes, Anton, this is an interesting and great trend, which you are certainly at the lead in. That’s my observation, that when people see larger possibilities online, it invites authentic transition from transactions to relationships. Thanks for being a leader in this evolution.
October 1st, 2007 08:35
Good observation about the social networking mechanisms. One of the attractions of social networking schemes is that they seem to offer the safety of anonymity while allowing exploration. But much of this exploration is a hope that a spark will set a relationship going rather than an attempt to build one. I think we still misunderstand the nature of relationships, and the complexity of communication that allows them to grow. Software won’t fix that.
October 1st, 2007 19:45
Good things about the internet… When you are fighting the good fight, and you become discouraged in the middle of the night, you can go to http://www.wiserearth.org/(Thank you Paul Hawken)and see that others are working hard, too. This is encouraging.
I have built relationships from my social network online at realneo and via MTB. We don’t always just share via the software and the ethernet cable. Sometimes we share a meal or a walk in the park, or a view of the lake.
Listen to Paul Hawken on the proliferation (like an immune system)of social justice and environmental groups and imagine — this is the beginning of a vast rearrangement of our networking capability. We can learn from people we will never meet and meet people we might never have known via our regular circles of work, play, etc.
What constitutes an “actual” relationship?
October 1st, 2007 20:03
The possible distinction I was suggesting is between “actual relationships” and “simulating relational activities.” I can transact all kinds of opinions and information with people I would never say I have a “relationship” with. We’re just transactors in a market place and honestly, I may be quite content to not have a(n actual) relationship with many of them - and they may feel the same way in my direction.
Of course, as Hawken points to, rich relationships can emerge from the serendipity of accidental conversations in idea spaces. Thanks.