Are computer networks strengthening community?
Every means of communication can be used for deepening community. Some of the American POWs in Vietnam apparently formed deep connections on the basis of not much more than occasional tapping on walls. But while everything is possible, not everything is equally easy. Restrict the internal communications of a corporation to wall- tapping, and competitive failure will be much more certain than the deepening of community. In general, the narrower the communication channel, the harder we have to work to communicate meaningfully. The current upshot of the matter is this: in a society that has long been fleeing what vestiges of community remain to it, a medium that makes our exchange even more indirect and automated does not show much promise of improving things overall. If you want to avoid coming to terms with someone, will you typically find it easier to meet him face-to-face, to call him on the phone, or send him an email message?
