Weinberger said some things in his NPR address that he reposted today which get at the points about the differences in ftf and online….mainly here,  the ongoing conversation vs “regular meetings” which are constrained by schedule, distance,  and on and on……..Churches need ot sit up and notice how many worthwhile conversations that typically die out due to the passage of time and the constraints mentioned…but are “kept alive through archive”;  and yet not “archived” in a “past, no longer relevant or pressing” sense, but as key points that distill the something of the essence of one person’s insight or comments,  that speak to another in what could be a much later time,  but with a personal relevancy that reaches forward in time to connect that piece of that person who wrote the original entry,  to a relevant piece of another person,  and join their journeys across the bounds of time.

Studies have suggested that the Internet is making us less social, because we’re spending more time tanning by the light of our computer screens and less time with others. And yet, the Internet is a profoundly social medium, what with email and discussion groups and chat and instant messaging. So is the Net making us more social or less social? As with every great question, the precise answer is: It depends … in this case on how you define “social.” But we should be careful, because the Net is rewriting some of the basic rules about social forms as fundamental as groups.

…..So, is the Net making us more social? All I can say is that while I’m sitting alone, eyes on my monitor, for many many hours a day, I’m meeting and talking with a literal world of strangers in groups held together by nothing but raw interest. Social? Absolutely. More social? Better social? I’m not even sure it’s a sensible question any more. Permalink