Comments on: Digitally active, physically reserved: a formula for efficacy? http://www.imaginativeamerica.com/2009/06/digitally-active-physically-reserved-a-formula-for-efficacy/ Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:50:12 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Blair http://www.imaginativeamerica.com/2009/06/digitally-active-physically-reserved-a-formula-for-efficacy/comment-page-1/#comment-1622 Blair Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:44:07 +0000 http://imaginativeamerica.com/?p=667#comment-1622 Great stuff. You're absolutely right about how the situation in Iran is highlighting the incredible power of Twitter and other social networks. The power for good is tremendous. The more I think about it, the more I feel the analogy of the car is an appropriate one. A car is a very useful machine that can enrich life in many ways, and yet, if everybody becomes dependent on this single mode (or medium) of travel alone, then society as a whole suffers. The problems is that we never did a very good job of integrating the car into our cities in a way that made sense holistically. This is still a problem that needs regular attention, and I guess now the integration of social media into cities is something that will also require a lot of thought. Great stuff.

You’re absolutely right about how the situation in Iran is highlighting the incredible power of Twitter and other social networks. The power for good is tremendous. The more I think about it, the more I feel the analogy of the car is an appropriate one. A car is a very useful machine that can enrich life in many ways, and yet, if everybody becomes dependent on this single mode (or medium) of travel alone, then society as a whole suffers. The problems is that we never did a very good job of integrating the car into our cities in a way that made sense holistically. This is still a problem that needs regular attention, and I guess now the integration of social media into cities is something that will also require a lot of thought.

]]> By: Chad Reynolds http://www.imaginativeamerica.com/2009/06/digitally-active-physically-reserved-a-formula-for-efficacy/comment-page-1/#comment-1621 Chad Reynolds Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:23:23 +0000 http://imaginativeamerica.com/?p=667#comment-1621 Blair, You said it, man. I was just thinking about this very issue as I rode my bike home from work in the rain. I was thinking how exhilarating it is to ride a bike in the rain, how very alive it makes a person feel, how dangerous and thrilling it is, and I was thinking about this in the context of Facebook, which I've just joined. I've spent a considerable amount of time hunting down old friends and colleagues and schoolmates who are now flung all over the United States, and I've gathered them into one little space known as my "home." It feels so intimate, everyone all together there, posting their ruminations on my "wall" for me to read. Sadly this does not happen often enough in real life. And so my question is, do social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter help or hurt local communities? Before the these things existed, before the car, before railroads, it really mattered where people lived. But each new technology makes it less and less vital to "commune" where you live. Who cares if you have a walkable neighborhood with cafes, parks, and meeting places when you have a customizable meeting place online. I fear this is the unexpected consequence of Facebook. It will be your task as the first generation of city planners in the "online social networking" era to figure out how to use these technologies to enhance urban spaces instead of ripping them apart. On the other hand, though, look at what Twitter has done for the protesters in Iran: in the face of a ban on international journalism and in the discontinuation of Internet service in many areas, young Iranians have used their cell phones and Twitter to keep the world informed of what is happening. This is truly remarkable. Blair,
You said it, man. I was just thinking about this very issue as I rode my bike home from work in the rain. I was thinking how exhilarating it is to ride a bike in the rain, how very alive it makes a person feel, how dangerous and thrilling it is, and I was thinking about this in the context of Facebook, which I’ve just joined. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time hunting down old friends and colleagues and schoolmates who are now flung all over the United States, and I’ve gathered them into one little space known as my “home.” It feels so intimate, everyone all together there, posting their ruminations on my “wall” for me to read. Sadly this does not happen often enough in real life.

And so my question is, do social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter help or hurt local communities? Before the these things existed, before the car, before railroads, it really mattered where people lived. But each new technology makes it less and less vital to “commune” where you live. Who cares if you have a walkable neighborhood with cafes, parks, and meeting places when you have a customizable meeting place online. I fear this is the unexpected consequence of Facebook. It will be your task as the first generation of city planners in the “online social networking” era to figure out how to use these technologies to enhance urban spaces instead of ripping them apart.

On the other hand, though, look at what Twitter has done for the protesters in Iran: in the face of a ban on international journalism and in the discontinuation of Internet service in many areas, young Iranians have used their cell phones and Twitter to keep the world informed of what is happening. This is truly remarkable.

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