One of us
Comment on The internet connects people
aesthelete@lemmy.world 4 days agoYeah but that doesn’t mean I think it’s a “community” that I am “joining”.
Certainly by some definition of the word you can call these things communities just because that’s how language works. Using “community” in this way is so pervasive I laughingly recall a tech bro watch company calling the people that buy their watches a “community”.
But from the meaning of the word before the rise of social media, social media platforms and the loosely structured groups underneath that you “form” by “joining” (AKA sometimes just looking at a video or web page or something) them definitely don’t resemble nor replace a community.
Akasazh@feddit.nl 4 days ago
LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 days ago
That’s a fair take I think.
Would you say smaller forums where people largely know each other are communities then? IRC? Discord?
Because I struggle to think what else could or has ever fit such a strict definition.
aesthelete@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Would you say smaller forums where people largely know each other are communities then? IRC? Discord?
Probably not, but they’re at least closer. Real communities provide you care, support, relief from loneliness, a sense of purpose, etc. etc. etc.
It’s possible for some to find tiny nuggets of these benefits in even the worst online “communities”, but by and large it’s does not exactly scratch the same itches that your grandma’s sewing circle or bridge club used to.
Because I struggle to think what else could or has ever fit such a strict definition.
It’s difficult to reason about because if you’re anywhere close to my age group (old ass millenial) online “communities” appeared and replaced existing physical communities across the country (I’m speaking in US terms). We’re now basically as lonely as we’ve ever been as a country, and I think it’s at least partially related to us going inside and screen timing it up for a number of decades on these platforms where “the community” is a bunch of strangers angrily typing messages to you through the Internet.
I find it no small coincidence that loneliness in America skyrocketed even as people became more active on social media. It points at the exact lack of benefit you get out of these “communities” that you used to get out of the old type.
LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 days ago
This seems like a rose-tinted glasses view of the past. Sure there were communities for rich white cishet men where they organized around mutual shared values of racism, misogyny, football and queerphobia but for the rest of us it was being shunned and gathering with the few other local shunned people in nasty dungeons.
Thankfully the internet came and solved all that. Now queer people have dating apps which work pretty flawlessly for us, and the space online is endless for us to gather and be ourselves with each other, freely, across all borders.
communities provide you care, support, relief from loneliness, a sense of purpose, etc. etc. etc.
but by and large it’s does not exactly scratch the same itches that your grandma’s sewing circle or bridge club used to.
I’m sorry you’re struggling with loneliness, personally I’m definitely not and I can’t say I know anyone who is.
Socializing online is great and the communities there are much more true and real than some IRL circle of Karens and their Christian bleach enema method and their TERF enclaves.
It’s also a much more efficient method of meeting people you actually get on with as well, rather than the endless NPCs on Tinder and IRL who only want to consume alcohol, travel and go to the gym. It’s crazy that I could be with someone who appreciates all the same things I do, my gf and I are def soulmates.
I find it no small coincidence that loneliness in America skyrocketed
Sounds like we’re just measuring mental health awareness, plus the rise in boomers using the web and often exposing people to their alienating rhetoric.
You get the point, you said what I knew you were gonna say because I have a radically different experience.
aesthelete@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I’m sorry you’re struggling with loneliness, personally I’m definitely not and I can’t say I know anyone who is.
It has nothing to do with me personally. I’m a bit of a hermit myself. I’d say my social needs started to not be met around 2022 (after approximately 2 years of near total isolation due to COVID) but now I’m completely back up to baseline again.
It has to do with the country: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone.
The data also doesn’t tell the story you’re telling anecdotally here: wgbh.org/…/loneliness-most-prevalent-for-bisexual…
Yes, it’s possible for people in marginalized communities to reach each other digitally using the Internet, it’s also possible for them to encounter more hatred and bigotry online than they used to in real life (albeit with hopefully less dire consequences).
Sounds like we’re just measuring mental health awareness, plus the rise in boomers using the web and often exposing people to their alienating rhetoric.
I don’t think I’m “just measuring” anything. If you want to plug your ears and pretend that I’m not talking about real problems, that’s all fine and dandy. Go ahead about your day and enjoy your dating apps, but social media isn’t all roses.
There is research indicating that, for one thing, these platforms cause real harm to girls in adolescence specifically: noemamag.com/social-media-messed-up-our-kids-now-…
The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 4 days ago
…I guess you aren’t going to want any of these welcome cookies that we baked for you then. =(
aesthelete@lemmy.world 4 days ago
😆