...Information and Communication Technologies is that what serves us to connect over a distance also serves to disconnect us from the tangible reality immediately surrounding us, that it tempts us to replace true human bonding with noncommittal and abstract virtual interactions.While I agree that disconnectedness is a discernable symptom & unfortunate side effect of how society is progressing in general, new technology has also created unexpectedly useful ways to support community building in the real world.
Long story short, I love my Meetup groups! In this case, the internet is a great medium to bring folks with common interests together. While there were tools in the past that allowed like-minded people to find each other (my Stammtisch started out with low-tech ads in the paper), Meetup offers a more direct, more interactive, and more colorful approach to organizing groups with helpful features like polls, or automated reminders and feed back requests. Of course, the main and most important factor is still an inspired, diligent organizer, as well as enthusiastic participants. I recommended to Paul that it might be worth looking at groups in the area, but unfortunately Monterey seems to be lacking the variety and consistency in groups that we enjoy in Santa Cruz. So I'd like to send out a big Thank you! to Amy and Gerry and all members who make the events into events!
For all suspicious minds, it's not a check in the mail from Meetup that inspired this little laudatio, I'm just genuinely pleased with the way groups have been developing.
(Image: Geek & Poke)
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