While listening to Stuart McLean on the Vinyl Cafe today, I was struck by the image of how families used to gather around the breakfast table reading newspapers.
McLean posed the question, “Are we all on the same page?” in his “In Praise of Newspapers” piece. He made a great point when newspapers were king, everyone was reading the same front page and this was a key connection to building a community.
I remember the day when you went to school or work and people said, “Did you see the front page of the paper today?” This still occurs in small towns today but not as much in larger centres. One reason is social media and the vast choice of media on the Internet.
Consider Twitter. Not everyone is on the same page because the users are following different people. You may be following Edmonton by using the hashtag, #yeg, on Search Twitter or reading about the hot topic of the day. The interest on these topics and others comes in spurts.
Now I’m not bashing social media, the Internet or defending newspapers. I just find the concept of linking a community through a common media interesting.
I think people connect today through similar interests by using one or more different media. The Edmonton Twitter community is active and engaging. There are many local Twitter gatherings, also known as Tweetups, and a social web meetup. I credit Twitter for meeting people in Edmonton that I may not have crossed paths with before.
I believe people in a community are and can be on the same page. They just use different tools of communication to reach the same message.
I don’t think everyone has necessarily EVER been on the same page. Regardless of the media, we have always had different interests from one another. Even if we read the same newspaper, we may read different articles.
There is more than one newspaper in Edmonton. The Journal, for instance, had more than one story on the front page. You and I may not read the same story. I know I don’t read every article in the three dailies I read each morning.
Community is, and has always been, made up of a group of INDIVIDUALS who all differ from each other in many aspects, yet they congregate and utilize those differences to enhance the community.