Derek Thompson has written a thought-provoking piece about the demise of community – not just in America – catalyzed by our screens and digital lives:
Americans today are in constant contact with the inner ring of family and the outer ring of ‘tribe’—that is, people we follow online, often because we share something in common, such as a sports allegiance or a political ideology. But the middle ring of community has atrophied. We know our online avatars better than we know our neighbors; we interact with certain online communities more than we text our friends. Smartphones and social media have expanded our circle of parasocial relationships at the expense of our actual social relationships.
https://www.derekthompson.org/p/the-death-of-partying-in-the-usaand
How do we revive community in a technology-saturated world?… Read more...