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The #1 thing I've learned from the covid-19 pandemic, is that online channels are not, and never will be, an adequate substitute for IRL. At best, they are a t
by rossdavidh 6y ago
The #1 thing I've learned from the covid-19 pandemic, is that online channels are not, and never will be, an adequate substitute for IRL. At best, they are a temporary half-measure, to keep the relationships on life-support until they next meeting IRL.
- hendersine 6y agoI think of a community as sort of the inverse of a mob. A mob shares a space for a short time, unifies around a single shared idea or emotion, and destroys the awareness of the individual. A community shares a space for a prolonged time, unifies around a hodgepodge collection of ideas, and maintains the level of individual thought and awareness. The quality and persistence of the space is critical. Online communities certainly do exist, but the space is ephemeral and lower fidelity than shared physical space because the range of possible forms of communication is constrained.
- v_london 6y agoDo you feel this way about all kinds of online interactions? Or are Zoom calls or group chats better than, lets say, your Twitter feed or Reddit threads?
- rossdavidh 6y agoZoom calls and group chats are definitely less bad than Twitter or Facebook or Reddit, but they are nowhere close to as good as IRL. Note that I have worked mostly remote jobs for a couple years now, so I'm not opposed to partially remote, but frequent visits to the client IRL are necessary, and if you're part of a team it's even more important to meet together.
- forgotmypw17 6y agoMy top issue with Zoom, which I find absolutely aggravating, is that most of the time there is a scheduled meeting window, and once it's over, the meeting is closed, and there is no way to continue a conversation with someone you are interested in conversing with. It resembles a prison visit more than a community meeting.
- offtop5 6y agoOnly a few more months!
- forgotmypw17 6y agoHave we flattened the curve yet?