The web revolution was supposed to break down the archaic concepts of geographically-defined “community” and “trust” and replace them with a new global communications network connecting the entire planet. The planet’s myriad small communities that had brought people together since the dawn of history were to be replaced with one single global “community” of earth. Why talk to one’s neighbor standing beside you waiting for the morning bus when you can use your phone to tweet at a celebrity on the other side of the planet? Yet, after a quarter century of ceaseless efforts to minimize and even eradicate the very concept of togetherness, the web is pivoting to embrace the concepts and norms it once strove to upend.
In the early days of the web, technologists and pundits proudly proclaimed the dawn of a new digital world. The national borders of old, defined by geography and cultural ties, were now obsolete. Like-minded people could now find themselves no matter where they lived and self-organize into new “digital states” that transcended the physical world. States no longer had any relevance in a world in which “cyberspace” reigned supreme.
Somewhere along the way we realized that the web merely creates opportunities to establish new virtual communities, rather than render obsolete those of the physical world.
Physical proximity and shared culture creates a sense of trust and shared worldview that are difficult to replicate in the anything-goes Wild West of the Web: traits ever more important in a world besieged by misinformation, disinformation, “fake news” and foreign influence.
Myriad specialty social networks and information sharing platforms have flourished in the Era of Facebook by emphasizing geographic community. Connecting neighbors and offering access to local information are more important than ever in our globalized world.
Knowing that a distant high school classmate from 40 years ago that you haven’t spoken to in 20 years just vacationed in Paris is probably less relevant than knowing that your corner grocery store burned down last night. Knowing that the conflict in Syria is still ongoing is likely less important to most Americans than knowing that in the past week 15 cars in their neighborhood have had their tires slashed.
Community forged out of geographic location is perhaps the most important community of all, since it alone reaches beyond the virtual world to our physical well being and safety. Yet, all forms of community are critically important for their ability to bring people together based on shared backgrounds and interests.
Facebook is the latest company to jump on this growing trend towards reestablishing “community.” Rather than collapse the totality of our life and that of all our friends into a single raging river of information, Facebook is embracing this return to smaller community through a renewed focus on Groups.
In fact, Facebook’s pivot towards Groups comes at an auspicious time for its advertising business. Just as the company faces increased scrutiny from governments across the world over its privacy practices and the threat of new legislation that could curtail some of the data collection that powers its massive advertising machine, a shift towards small Groups could actually provide the company an out.
Yet, even Twitter has discussed the idea of inverting its own influencer model, with users following topics of conversation, rather than other users. Following topics would reduce the influence of the individual in favor of the group and would forge a greater sense of community and belonging, rather than fame and fandom.
Putting this all together, the web that set out to eliminate the role of local community in favor of connecting the entire planet has finally realized all of the critical safeguards and benefits communities provide society and the growing importance of community in our globalized world.
In an ironic twist, the web that set out to destroy community has now embraced it and is setting out to rebuild what it once disdained.
Once again, the Silicon Valley that attempted to remake the world in its own image has belatedly realized that sometimes the world was better off the way it was.
