From Tale Spin
Tim’s late night questions about the Internet.
I’ve been musing on these issues on and off for the last few days. These questions are rough and in no particular order:
Is it possible to find real community on the Internet?
Does real community not necessarily involve physical presence, body language, shared meals, hugs and so on?
If you said “No”, to the above, aren’t you some sort of Gnostic?
Why do so many people use pseudonyms on the Internet?
How is it possible to find real community with people when we aren’t even willing to tell them our real names?
Why is it so easy to demonise people we meet on blogs?
Why do so many blog discussions degenerate into name-calling?
Why do so many blogs become gatherings of the like-minded instead of places of genuine dialogue?
Is it possible to have real community amongst the like-minded? Don’t we need dissent and difference? Isn’t it a bit of a snare to be able to choose our community, rather than having to learn to love the real community we find ourselves in?
Why do I let myself get so involved in blog arguments and discussions, when experience in the real world has taught me many times that argument hardly ever changes anyone’s mind?
Would you say that this scripture describes the Christian blogosphere?
'Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you'.
I was just wondering.
No comments:
Post a Comment