For some of you reading this, you understand this but some of you and many of the people you work or live with can’t imagine how any people can form deep connections with others they’ve never met and in some cases never communicating with directly.
CBC Spark, devoted a good part of a recent episode to this very idea. You’d do well to listen and subscribe to this thought provoking podcast.
The story of Daemon Fairless building a bike demonstrates the idea that the culture of sharing is becoming really important to many of us. Although Daemon’s interaction at first was distant, he was simply culling information and resources, he wanted to do more, to reach and say thank you. When he wasn’t able to do so, (listen to the segment to find out why) it bothered him. He made a connection and naturally wanted to deepen it. We’re born to share.
The story of Eva Markvoort is a wonderfully sad story about sharing, dying and connection. As she chronicles her life and death with Cystic Fibrosis, you can’t help but be connected to her. Never before have we been able to witness first hand the experiences of strangers and yet develop these oddly deep connections. Outside of the scripted world of broadcast media, we now share intimate moments with the world in its raw, unfiltered form. Yes, many of us have experienced this first hand with friends and relatives and while certainly this is not a pleasant thing to deal with, it is part of being human and being able to sympathize, empathize, hurt and mourn is part of who we are. I believe those people who followed Eva’s journey are better prepared to deal with it when the time comes.
Finally an amazing story of collaboration and creativity. Eric Whitacre, a composer and conductor creates a virtual choir. The stories people share about how much they love to sing, how they, in some cases are able to join a real choir but are so grateful to be able to share their passion represents in perhaps the purest way what the web is for.
From a personal standpoint, I could list story after story about the power of these connections that go way beyond, “thanks for the great link on twitter” or “I really enjoyed your blog”. If you’re not careful, this stuff gets real personal real fast and that scares many people.
I suppose there are many that look at these emotional stories and say, “I’ve got enough connections without finding any online”. That may or may not be true but I certainly wouldn’t want them to dismiss the power of these connections. Perhaps one or more of these stories can be used to help others understand and see how deep they run.
The technology is now a prothesis of ourselves. Be it a webcam, a microphone or even the written word, technology is becoming a seamless conduit to connecting with others.
Cross posted on the Tech Learning Blog
I do think it’s important to question and consider the value of our connections. An ex-student of mine (in perhaps the wisest post I’ve ever seen from a 19-yr old college student) posted this to facebook recently: “‘I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.’ Taking a facebook hiatus. Will last however long it needs to.” It made me question my own use of facebook, and whether it was truly adding value and depth to my relationships.
There seems to be a feeling among the general public that online connections shouldn’t be so powerful due to the simple fact that they’re not face-to-face relationships- yet there are just a ton of stories about people who’ve formed real, lasting, and deep relationships with people who they’ve never met. Perhaps what needs to change is our general definition of what is required for a relationship. Is it possible the face-to-face aspect of relationships isn’t as important as we’d all like to think?
As an aside, CBC Spark is easily one of my favorite podcasts. It’s just good stuff week after week after week.
.-= Ben Wildeboer´s last blog ..Week 1: Self-directed learning Project =-.
Just a couple of quick thoughts (opinions). I think it’s all personal. At least, everything that matters.
My main concern, I think, is that we are creating a culture of fear around connecting with other people–virtually or f2f. As a culture, we seem to be more and more suspicious of others’ motives and of nameless, faceless dangers that lurk just behind every stranger we meet. Of course there are safety issues for individuals who are vulnerable for some reason (very young and naive; very old and frail), but generalized fear is something that can pretty quickly erode community — and take much of the joy of living and learning with it.
My own experience has been that my online networks have been some of my most generous, friendly, joyful places. I know a bunch of people whom I care about — yes, even what they had for lunch, or what they spilled on their shirts today– some I have met only online. They matter to me, and I hope in some small way, I matter to them. When I can accompany somebody who struggles to find a job, goes back to school for a grad degree, paces up and down while waiting for a child to be born, shares a great photo from a bike ride home from work, or even cooks an unexpectedly great meal, then I somehow become more human, more connected, more completed. Yeh… it’s personal.
And another group I’ve come to appreciate deep connections with are those with whom I had f2f connections for a period of time, but now are spread around the globe. Probably my favourite part of making new friends now is that I don’t have to give them up later, or suffer through the typical once/year Christmas letter to try to catch up on their lives.
The connections are real, and they are deeply personal. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
That was an excellent episode of Spark. The connections I have made over Social Media are very real, it is extra special to meet these people in person, yet the connections are powerful and real.
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