It’s kinda nice when you realize just how powerful this thing – the Internet – is.  Everyone’s voice can be heard by practically everyone in the world, yet it is still a single voice that maybe no one hears.  Maybe you just want to air some thoughts out about anything you can imagine and just see if someone agrees with your views – or not. Here is the rub:  how will this medium change our lives?  I’m not sure if anyone can accurately say, but it will simply fade into the background someday, a part of things we take for granted like the telephone, cell phone, electricity, running water, air conditioning, automobiles and other things that have dramatically transformed society in ways not readily apparent, or even forgotten.    Each technology advance increased our productivity, allowing more leisure time, allowing more free time.  We have increasingly absorbed more thoughts at an ever increasing speed.  So, when it gets right down to it, the Internet is providing the infrastucture to increase the speed of life.

The speed of life.  I like saying it twice.    

With the power of Web 2.0, voices, ideas, thoughts and dialogues are not controlled by mass media such as radio, television, and newspapers, and it is unfiltered, much the same as a physical world dialogue, except it can be time-shifted.  Suppose you are a collector of Incan matrimonial headmasks.  It is a sure bet that you are probably the only one in Fort Smith that collects these, and perhaps New York only has 10 collectors.  In the physical world how would you contact these other collectors separated by such vast geopgraphical distances and actually build a community interested in Incan matrimonial headmasks?  How would you even find them? It would be very difficult and time-consuming without the Internet and search engines.

With the Internet, it is easy to find others with the same interests, and using Web 2.0 technologies, you can actually build a virtual community that does not require every member to meet at a conference hall or coffee shop to discuss and share their ideas and knowledge.  Indeed, the dialogue on a Web 2.0 site can be richer because it is not limited to the ability of people to physically meet, or the synchronous dialogue physical meetings require.  The conversations reach many more people, the conversations are typically time-shifted to allow for sleep, work, and other physical acts the world requires.  Perhaps richer is not the correct word, but it is different, and therefore, extends the richness of the overall community conversation of the topic of interest.  Many people find that both physical and Internet community participation actually compresses the time it takes to share information, therby speeding life.

Am I saying that this engagement is a substitute for real-world meetings?  Absolutely not.  There is no way an Internet meeting covering the Fort Smith Jazz Festival could have the same experience as actually attending the event, but what it CAN do is increase the interest and participation in the event both before and after (during?), building and extending the community of people interested in the event, making the event an even bigger success, much faster than traditional methods of the past 10 or 100 years.

Fort Smith and the surrounding area is a community that can be extended through these new technologies, providing a richer experience for not only the residents of the area, but also visitors, businesses, and others interested in the area even though they may live thousands of miles away.  Imagine if a major manufacturing or (shocker!) white-collar company could see, read, and almost experience the community online - seeing the richness of the area, experiencing our unique thoughts, seeing our events and knowing  that the community is moving to increase its own ability to engage each other and increase the quality of life of our area.  Before they even set foot here, they might know they want to try a muffaletta at Leoncias, visit Miss Lauras, know which hotel to stay at, the differences in the parks, which roads are under construction, the people and businesses they want to speak with, the new businesses opening (and closing) and the general quality of life and outlook we all possess.  What a step ahead we all would be.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.