Categories: uncategorized
Date: 18 March 2006 20:08:59
Picking up on Pants' discussion of online community, and apologising for the negative spin of my comment, I'd like to try and offer some thoughts of my own.
Let me start by considering the circles I move in "in real life". Work is fairly significant. I belong to a team. I have colleagues whom I work with. Weekdays, 9 to 5, they are my circle. But at 10 to 8 on a Saturday evening, they do not figure (except in my upset over things which happened during the week). We (our family) belong to a church. Hopefully, to-morrow, between 11:15 and about 12:45, we shall be amongst our fellow worshippers. In theory, we are still church outside those times. In practice, unless I start to love the phone, I have little contact with the other members of our church. And, of course, because of the way services happen, for most of the time I am in company with the other members of our church, I am not supposed to talk to them.
That I have few friends apart from these circles is probably my fault. We moved a few years ago out of the city to a town which is a good place, but possibly not terribly welcoming. I've joined the management committee of the after school club which Celebrity and Gardener (his new nickname - we'll see if it sticks) attend. Unfortunately, owing to an ongoing crisis, this isn't a comfortable situation. So, as far as "real life" is concerned, it comes down to immediate family. "This is us."
So the wibsite means a lot to me. Please don't be scared. I get along reasonably well "in real life". To some extent I prefer to be self-sufficient. But I appreciate this community, which may be in some senses a virtual one. It is made up of real people (unless Chris has managed to populate it with virtual people). We communicate using technology which simply didn't exist 30 years ago. But plenty of people (I believe) maintain their links using the phone which is still technology. I dislike the phone. I find it intrusive. But I like the idea that I can type away here, and a few people will read what I've written, when it suits them.
So - community is community. There are different ways to communicate. Perhaps face to face is best. The way that we live nowadays, however, means that we often have to find alternatives. I think that the wibsite is a pretty good one. And perhaps the best way for me to close is by saying thank you - to Dave and Chris especially, of course, but also to all of you - I've been here a while, and you people have made it a good place to be.