I just spent several hours hanging out with folks from all over the world at a miniature golf place and a karaoke bar who came to Las Vegas to hang out with one another for the next three days celebrating geek culture and brought together by their love of a podcast called The Morning Stream. If all you know about online experiences or “communities” is via X or Facebook, you’ve been ripped off and lied to. X, Facebook and the rest are “online communities” like Del Taco is “Mexican Food.” Contrary to the ad campaign FB foisted on the world a couple years ago, they aren’t interested in bringing people of similar interests together as much as showing you advertising and keeping you on their platform by showing you posts that piss you off and make you want to respond to said posts. It’s all a big fat lie and not at all what an actual online community could be. 

We learned way back in the dial-up days what it took to create real online communities that actually brought people together and utilized the fact that interacting online was not limited by time or space. It wasn’t some algorithm but simple community standards and human moderators needed to communicate said standards and facilitate connections between users. And the group that’s developed around TMS is a perfect example of what an online community can be. I know that FB or Instagram or whatever is helpful to know what the grandkids or folks you went to high school with are generally doing, but it’s mostly empty “calories” and not remotely as meaningful as it could be. Granted, maybe that’s all you want as far as communicating with the high school cliques that you could barely tolerate back then. But don’t confuse that “interaction” with what’s really possible if you want something more than a headline that’s intentionally meant to piss you off. We can do much better than this. 

Imagine a world where the algorithm isn’t programmed to sell you shit, but is actually there to facilitate connecting you with other humans, who hold the same concerns and interests. At the same time, it doesn’t necessarily tell you just what you want to hear as much as what is verifiable. Yes, Virginia, there is a way of doing “community” where bullshit is called out while at the same time, we recognize that none of us are the infallible arbiters of Truth. For example, some folks are under the impression that “Fury Road” (2015) is the height of cinematic excellence, but fortunately that is something that can be registered as a fine opinion without questioning the person’s intelligence or actual cinematic intelligence. The point is that there is a way to foster community without “both-sides” bullshit and room for disagreements. Turns out, we don’t have to agree 100% to see a way for us to work together and support one another. That’s not something that algorithms “understand.” 

I’m a good ten to twenty years older than many in the crowd I hung out with tonight. I’m missing the gaming gene (online AND console). But I enjoy this group of nerds so much in their support for each other and willingness to just try to connect with each other, mostly over a silly daily news/tech/gaming podcast created by two guys living in Colorado and Utah who wanted to do a daily morning “radio” show. The secret is that the guys recognize it’s not about them or their “star power” but about their varied interests and in this amazing time we’re living in and how we can do so much good by being there for one another and supporting one another in whatever creative dream we might be harboring. I met the band, Same Sex Mary through these guys and on Wednesday I’ll see my eleventh show. The point is that online communities can be so much more than a FB group or comment thread on X. It can really bring people together for good and meaningful connections. If your online experiences just frustrate or piss you off then you’ve not had a real online connection. 

If you want to change your experience, find a group that you really care about and make a direct message to see if you can go beyond the algorithm and make a real connection. 

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Tags: Harold Rheingold, online community, real connections, the algorithm, the morning stream, TMS

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