We could change the world using communication technology. We could change our communities for the better. We have all the tools that activist Fred Moore might have sought (for instance, Meetup provides groups and common interests a place to accumulate members, LinkedIn provides people a place to connect professionally across careers and interests, blogs are a platform for anyone and any collective entity to express themselves, reddit, craigslist, etc.), but they don’t take most of us very far. What’s missing?
We have many tools at our hands to wrangle a list of contacts for any sort of discussion or event or ongoing group we might like. We’re all dressed up in the latest social networking tools, but going next to nowhere. Many of us use the prescribed methods of connecting with people online, but go no further. We post, tweet, poke, up-vote, follow, and crowdfund, but those things alone don’t create a deep abiding relationship or community. I find that when things do take off, they seem to be a flash in the pan. Popular until another trend wipes clean the collective awareness.
So what would bring us the connection and movement that Fred Moore sought? Perhaps we need the perspective to see that Moore was seeking to use lists and connections as tools to foster experiences and relationships with people in the real world. He sought to organize and advocate for peace. Are the present means suited to that end, or do we need to use different tools?