qphia asked...
Asked by qphia - 07/10/09 at 10:10 pmIs the internet a genuine portal to restoring community values in the real world?
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October 13th, 2009 at 1:33 am
No, of course not. The internet has nothing to do with restoring anything. It’s simply a means of connecting people and resources. Also, “community values” has no general meaning that you can apply to every kind of community, whether virtual or physical. Values are relative, not absolutes.
October 13th, 2009 at 11:04 am
The rise of open source development, and the free exchange of advice amongst the open source community, is a definite swing towards a real community ethos, and a trend that I believe may begin to spread further through the internet and into the lives of those that use it.
Here are expansive communities with members from all corners of the globe that help each other out, discuss and build applications, in most cases asking for nothing in return.
As more people become aware of open source platforms it is quite likely that they may become dominant, and that software will move away from the realms of premium tools and towards those applications that are community developed freely.
These applications carry all of the hallmarks of community values i.e. groups of people working together and for each other towards a common goal, and could well be a sleeping giant that will act as a catalyst to a truly global community.
October 18th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
The internet is a means, not an end in itself, leaving it usable for many ends.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
As much as it’s not, but it surely can and even should be used for that purpose