Community Building Beyond the Net RJ (rjb811) Mon 23 Dec '96 (08:04 AM) While virtual community and networking through the Web are great ways to make contact with the world, I think we need to remember how important it is to continue working on real community in our daily lives. As I see it, the Web is a terrific avenue for those of us interested in building community to reach each other and give each other support, but we should also use it as a means for encouraging each other beyond the keyboard. I have been working on the "problem" of community for several years, and could really benefit from the experience and wisdom of others who have been facing similar challenges. At the same time, we should continue to emphasize the importance of the net as it fills in some of the empty spaces in our lives when real community is not available. I hope this topic resonates with some of you -- I'm looking forward to reading some responses and responding in turn. I've already listed my website in INTRODUCTIONS, but in case you missed it: http://people.delphi.com/Jack419 This is the site of a small community group I've been involved with for the past six years called the Wheel. We don't live together, but we do manage to be a part of each other's lives. Some of us yearn for a more communal existence but we have found our version of community encouraging and fulfilling in its own way. I'd like to hear from anyone else who's doing anything similar (or even dissimilar). Thanks! Topic 40: Community Building Beyond the Net #1 of 3: Bob Watson (librarybob) Mon 23 Dec '96 (01:45PM) Hi. Checked out part of your site, liked your graphics. Community is an interesting concept. One recent take on it inspired the Communitarian movement (though I read an Indian review of the seminal book which really dissed it--reviewer thought emphasis on community was at the root of India's problems). I'm sympathetic to the matter and can report that something as simple as a block party can work wonders. EM is, of course, a community but I'm very interested in the ability of technology enabling folks who share particular interests to get together outside the "ancient" (i.e., 19th century) definitions which once defined our professions. Some of us work at jobs which are spread thinly across the landscape and really have a hard time finding fellow travelers. Finally, glad to see you're supporting homeschooling. I run a public library and can afford to sit outside much of the current public school debate--but I think the right choice is the one which works for you. You need to introduce your kids to your culture, not the one which they encounter, higgledy piggledy, through the public schools. Topic 40: Community Building Beyond the Net #2 of 3: RJ (rjb811) Tue 24 Dec '96 (09:16 AM) Bob, Thanks for visiting our site and sharing your encouraging comments. I am familiar with the Communitarian movement and its emphasis on community responsibility versus individual rights. While these aspects need to be balanced, I tend to see the whole community thing as personal -- or should I say interpersonal. It's really all about how we relate to each other as much as it is how each of us relates to the community as a whole. That's why, as you said, something as simple as a block party can be so effective in building community. By merely socializing -- in a comfortable, relaxed and trustful environment -- we develop bonds which reinforce our sense of connectedness and bring about an awareness of our responsibilities to each other. I think the net has the potential to create these bonds too -- especially for those of us who have a hard time finding and linking up with other community-minded people. It can be a kind of life raft in a sea of alienation (excuse the metaphor) and it can make us more open to personal contacts in our daily lives by reassuring us that there are caring people out there. I see the net (or virtual community) not as a substitute for actual community but as an enchancement. What we've tried to do with the Wheel community over the past few years is to create a place where we can experience friendship and support in the midst of a fairly arid suburban environment. It would be easier if we lived closer to each other -- within walking distance -- but we try to make the most of what we have. And it's especially important for the children since they need community as much or more than we adults do -- particularly those who are being educated at home. It gives them a better opportunity to socialize and relate to each other and adults than the stressful, over-crowded classrooms where most children learn about life. Of course schools could be improved if we, as a society were willing to allocate the resources and decrease class size. I know I could go on and on about this (and I probably will at a later time). It's a very important facet of what we call "community". Topic 40: Community Building Beyond the Net I would be pleased if you would quote me -- I'm always looking for ways to spread the word about community. I would also appreciate your letting other people know about my site at the Wheel Community: http://people.delphi.com/Jack419 Sharing our thoughts like this is the best way I know to engender the sense of community we all seek. Roger

I'd like to hear more about the Wheel. I'll check out the website when I am on a faster machine/ISP at work. I get spoiled with the speed there. I live in an urban setting and if there was one thing I can say is clearly missing is a stronger sense of community, especially as a family.

What urban area do you hail from?

Seattle. (now that does not qualify as a "quality response?" TOo short, eh?) And I must confess I've never had the pleasure of going to Austin. Tho did have friends who lived there once. Are we the only two people conversing right now?

Proably, we just put up a brand new version of our software and I'm doing heavy testing right now. There are others though, they're just not around. I wonder where aubrey is these days. She's MIA.

Must be that pesky real life interfering with some good conversations.

Thought I'd butt in here, too, seeing as I'm new :) I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts about what constitutes community, and how to encourage it. Also, how do people become a 'community'? What do they do that defines them as such? Rituals? Rites of passage?

I heard of "Barking Cat Acres" The main purpose of the Barking Cat Acres site is to brainstorm over our plans of building a geodesic dome home. In addition to this, we will be providing online space for various musicians, artists, techno record labels and individuals not fortunate enough to have direct Internet access. They are at http://barkingcat.org

someday i'm gonna talk to ya just like yer talkin' to him that gaze into yer eyes i'm wastin' time thinkin' about it the night is almost over it slipped away again the streets have loneliness to hurry back to as darkness paints the dawn i wish i could see how you sound like or how you get mad at yourself your bicycle and your walk seem as ancient as the hilltop wanna go up there? bring your niece if you want to and some big police it'll be okay, even when you cry and i'm the only one to know even when you promise me something and let me down it's not what matters that counts all you see doesn't let you go it's just that you're close, and i'm down to my last bare feeling behind that clump of trees is a truck that's turned off can i hold your hand? i guess it isn't likely....okay... can i hear your song? the one that breaks down in my eyes... mmm, your sound has a lone listener like mine yeah, it gives way to the stranger in itself it goes by but i know it's not gone can we talk about it? just softly, as you want i've never been here before where it makes such a difference to lean against someone's hair

and then again (or maybe not, I'm much too centered to care) one day you could move here next me or I to you or us to them and talk and talk and walk and laugh scream, shout, cry, have coffee, bake dessert, stomp some grapes, have an old fashioned potluck potlatch, sit together on the same damned couch to listen in on what's really there and read our meanings in each other's eyes instead of this cold screen

oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

did I miss something again?

no, I'm just speaking of communal interactions in general.

as opposed to in private?

well, actually I guess you get into a big mess if you lie to yourself too!