Social Media: Love will tear us apart?
18 May
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest… Each day we have a plethora of opportunities to exchange, share, communicate, support, and connect with others thanks to the horde of online communities we now have at our disposal.
Though some believe we are feeling more isolated than ever.
An interesting hypothesis, and one we thought worth exploring. So earlier this year (inspired by this post), we solicited the opinion of the world wide web on community in a digital age.
Check out some of the responses we got:
“I’ve always seen online communities as a supplement, not a replacement, for real life ones. I use them as a means to stay connected to people when we’re not in the same physical space. I’d much rather be doing stuff in the real world, because real life is so KICKBUTT.”
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“I think there is always some loss to a community that is online. Its just not the same as a real connection, sharing your time with someone in a physical space. The loss of eye contact, body gestures, fine details… It is sad in many ways, yet being able to communicate and share from a distance has many benefits and will continue to be apart of society as we become more connected.”
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“I don’t think that there is any way to fully replicate the experience of having a face to face conversation with another individual with an online community. Though we have so many new ways to connect with each other, I think that many of us are feeling more isolated than ever.”
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“What I’ve had fun with – is to expand my offline friendships with extended online ones. This has opened up entirely new relationships in very cool ways.”
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“I am an Administrator on a large bulletin board; We are all bound together by the need for support and understanding (prisoners’ families). In real life we would not be able to make those connections so easily. One of the first things that members say when joining is “Thank God I found you! You understand me, no-one else does”. In my experience the internet has enhanced my ability to join a community towards which I feel a real sense of “belonging”. It has been one of the most rewarding times of my life, and I have made and met lifelong friends through this medium.”
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“In the last year, I moved to a brand new city where I knew absolutely no one. As I explored the city, I was open to connections and talked to whoever was around me when it seemed appropriate, but in most of these cases we had nothing in common more than whatever situation we were in and whatever else strangers have in common. We could talk about local events or experiences, or tell each other our stories but that ended up being the extent of it. I had much better luck finding groups of people with common interests through online communities and then meeting them at events.”
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“The online world can be a good portal into real-world connections if you want it to be – for example, meetup.com or ‘tweet-ups’”
Like many who weighed in, we believe BALANCE is key. Our online and offline communities should not be mutually exclusive but rather mutually reinforcing. Those of us living nomadic or urban lifestyles may have to work a bit harder to nurture our real world connections, but we think there are some fabulous ways to do that. We need only to get off our lap tops (iphones, ipads, etc.), turn off the TV, and get out there!
Here’s a quick look at just a few new community initiatives in our backyard that are successfully using the online world to expand our offline interactions:
This Place is Yours is an exciting non-profit media project launching later this year that seeks to ‘connect communities, open societies and create happier human beings.’ The beauty of this project is the way it plans to do this via online journalism & story-telling combined with real world events & workshops in order to foster face-to-face connection and community.
Urban Love - ‘Extremely social, guerilla-style events across Sydney’s underused inner-city spaces. A much needed chance to get outside, mingle, stretch your happy muscles, meet your neighbours and liven up our streets! Public street-parties every third Saturday 2-6pm. Rogue Tunes, outdoor foosball, great times & BYO drinks & food.’
Make Tonight Count - A new iphone app designed to share your plans for the evening with ‘a few mates, all your friends or the world.’ A nifty little tool to help us all coordinate our social lives. The night is full of possibilities and this app exists to help you take advantage of all of them.
What do YOU think?
Are Facebook, et al. causing loneliness and isolation?
How do you nurture your offline communities?
Why not make a commitment to foster real world connections in NEW ways this weekend?














































