Anecdata

On communities

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Lately I have becoming more aware of the need for community. On the face of it, it appears simple. Community is important. But I recognize that it is not at the forefront of our thoughts.

I have thoughts about this. Historically, I don’t think we needed to worry about it. Our community was where we lived. They would be around, either by way of industry, craft, region, or religion. That is not always the case now.

Let’s take work, for example. In the past, it was unusual for someone to not meet a coworker they worked alongside daily. As a sentence, that does not make sense. In the past, it would be improbable to work alongside someone and never see them. I had not thought about it, but three coworkers have started and left without us meeting in person. Handful of coworkers whom I never even spoke or saw via video-chat. Since I started working remotely, this has unnerved me every now and then.

One of the most understood phenomena is becoming friends via proximity. It is typical for our best friends to be those we met early on in our lives. We may diverge in our interest, but the history of connectedness pulls us together. I imagine that besides the societal expectation of connectedness with family members, the proximity we share makes it easier to become connected. And, although we use words like network and connections for social media, it is a paltry substitute.

I have similar feelings about the word community. It’s been co-opted by the digital entrepreneurs, but search for community building and you’re fed SEO blogspam about how you can create an online community for SaaS product no one asked for. This does not mean that you cannot find community online. You absolutely can. But I feel it as a probabilistic gamble. You may make ones solid connection, but have hundreds of unreliable ones. Yet, all require the same effort because you won’t know which is which until it is tested, right? I don’t know.

Going back to the point I was sort of making earlier. It feels like we have to work at making a community now. At least, if we’re comparing to previous generations.

I see this as a growing problem. Because the more digitally connected we become, the less we feel we need in-person connections. It’s like eating fast food and thinking you’ve somehow met your daily recommended fiber intake (if all you’re eating is fast food, you’re not). Yea, sure, the burger and fries will fill you up and they’re damn tasty. But that’s because they’re designed to be. Hyper-palatable foods earned their name for a reason. I think a similar thing happens with digital connectedness. The carefully created experiences lull your brain into thinking you’re being social.

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But are you? Even over voice chat, there is something lacking in the timbre and nuances of someone’s voice. The proximity effect is lost. The voice is taken into a device with lossy encoding and played on your speakers or headphones of questionable quality. It feels like you’re getting the “fast food” version of someone’s presence.

End social media rant. We know it is bad for us. In the future we will know just how bad.

But back to my community building thoughts. I think the information available and the means of connecting with folks could be amazing. Digital platforms could become a fantastic way of using algorithms to find others in the area who share your hobbies and interests. I appreciated meetup when it was active in my area. Now, it feels like another place folks are mainly out to look for romantic partners. Nextdoor tackles a similar need, but it is rampant with advertisements and artificial comments. It feels like what Craigslist would be if someone had thought of it now. In the end, both of these need to monetize their business. I don’t blame them for pivoting, selling ads, and catering to demographics that will bring them money. This should not be left for businesses to handle.

A platform like these should exist supported by the local/state government or a non-profit.
This may exist and I am ignorant of it.

I have read several literature on community, engaged communities, community based science, and the like. It is clear I remain ignorant about it. However, with the continual trend towards more insular lives, I do not think I can justify staying that way.

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