Internet Communities
January 10th, 2010
guest blogger: Megan Jeffery
As the Web world grows, and more people are online check out the stats, the earth itself seems to be shrinking. With just a few clicks of the mouse, I can read the news from Australia, or the London Times. The things that are happening in the lives of people all over the world are touching people on the other side of the world, every day. Social networks such as Myspace and Facebook make it possible to keep in touch with or find friends all over the world. This has been happening for some time, and no one is really surprised by it anymore.
Another intriguing thing that is happening though, is bloggers, at least some of them, have tightly knit communities forming around them – but the people in these communities actually live all over the world. I began reading one such blog almost two years ago when a co-worker introduced it to us. The blogger, Matt Logelin had just lost his wife after the birth of their first child. Heartbreaking story. Amazing guy. His writing kept me reading even when the situation might have made me not want to read anymore out of self preservation. His story is compelling, his delivery and photography told a story that was enough to keep me reading for well over a year now. Me, and apparently thousands more. This guy was inundated with gifts, both monetary and material, books, emails, suggestions and more. As the last year has progressed, more and more people have formed a community, offering support for him and his little daughter. People from all over the globe leave hundreds of comments to every post. Because of this “community” Matt (and many from his community of readers) has been able to create something amazing that will help even more people in this internet community – a foundation named after his wife, Liz. This foundation was formed to help others in his situation.
As I click through his blogroll, I have found that several of the folks on it have had a similar, if not quite as explosive, experience with their blogs. Communities have grown up around the bloggers, offering prayers, support, a vote of confidence or advice. The same people come back to read, leave comments, etc. Often the same people read the blogs on the blogrolls, forming an even tighter, yet bigger community.
I think it speaks to the human experience. The internet may be full of crazy websites, scams, businesses trying to market their wares, and so on, but what it comes back down to, always, is that we want to be a part of each other’s lives. We want to know how people move through life on the other side of the world. We want to explore the similarities and differences. Even something as technological as computers and the internet have a very human side. It’s good to know that humanity, especially this kind of humanity manages to leak through even the most sterile interaction we can have with one another. What an amazing way to harness the power of the internet.
