N.I.M.B.Y

Any virtual community, regardless of how active, robust, and engaging it may be, lacks the core human interaction that real people-to-people meetings bring. Also, by bringing everyone together from all corners of the globe, they effectively isolate everyone. I can sit here and write this in my attic / office in Florida and you can read it in your loft apartment in New York. By doing so, we've made some sort of connection, however deep or shallow it may be depends on what I'm saying and what you're interested in. But at the end of the day, you're still in New York dealing with whatever the city brings, I am in Florida waiting for a hurricane to come, and we probably won't go about affecting each others lives.

Now don't get me wrong. I am all in favor of on-line interactions, groups, and communities. Heck, I met my wife on MySpace. But as we grow up, start families, and plant roots, some of that energy needs to be taken 'off the grid' and put into your ACTUAL community. You know, that strange place where you live and where you keep your stuff.

Now, for those who are still somewhat transient, it may not be an issue. But as many of us start to purchase homes, the area we live in become much more of a focal point than we could have ever imagined before. As I say this, my wife and I getting set to join the local neighborhood association. While connecting with people across the country can be beneficial in terms of networking, indulging in shared interests, or just finding folks who march to a similar tune, the actual community in which you live has a lot more immediately relevant things. Everything from knowing who the local handyman or geek is, what the crime situations are, what local political issues are affecting the area, or just who likes to BBQ as much as you do, knowing who lives around you is a community that you should WANT to be a part of. After all, if you don't, why are you living there in the first place?