You are correct about asynchronous communication, of course. That is a great thing, and I should have included IRC / texting on the plus side. The worldwide c

You are correct about asynchronous communication, of course. That is a great thing, and I should have included IRC / texting on the plus side. The worldwide communities? I enjoy them, but it seems to me that it is one of the fundamental causes of the increasing fragmentation of society. Hannah Arendt describe this as 'atomized' society. Totalitarian regimes have flourished in such environments. In the old days, if you didn't fit in, you had to make an effort to find common ground with others physically near you to enjoy a social life. This led to a lot of seredipity and built social cohesion. Nowadays, it's a lot easier to hate your neighbor who disagrees with you politically or culturally because there's always a virtual means of socializing just a click away. Nelson was a visionary to coin 'virtualization' but I think he and many others have been far too optimistic about the end results of that ongoing experiment. It is far easier to manipulate people into committing acts of physical violence against their neighbors than is commonly believed in a society that has become 'atomized,' and virtual communities are a terrific means to creating an atomized society.