Blog #7: A Response to “Vermont: Neighbors and Online Networks”…

The article “Vermont: Neighbors and Online Networks” presented a very interesting account of how the internet is being used as a tool to help procure and engender focal interaction and practices. In effect, an object (i.e. the internet) which Albert Borgmann would undeniably brand a device (if one scrutinizes the internet in a strictly straightforward sense) is being utilized in order to help develop focal activities of the most engaging variety. Focal practices are thus springing forth from within the frame of a device. As the article described, one individual decided to help better knit his neighborhood together in order to foster a greater sense of belonging and community. More specifically, he used the internet to create an online forum to help better connect his neighborhood. The results of his endeavors seem to be successful, so successful that his once small neighborhood forum has spread to several hundreds of communities all across Vermont. Small threads posted by individual citizens have worked to foster social interaction and relationships which would have otherwise remained nonexistent.

In regards to the use of the internet cited above, I believe that Albert Borgmann would be slightly hopeful but extremely cautious (this is kind of how Borgmann comes off to me throughout his entire work). Borgmann would likely be hopeful because of the great benefits to the engenderment of focal things/practices established through such usage of the internet. His caution, though, would arise from the fact that there seems to be, in this case, a reformation of technology which is occurring within the paradigm of technology itself (i.e. a device is being used to help secure focal things/practices).

The outright positive results of such a novel creation are quite obvious; as a matter of fact, the article works to list several. The “Front Porch Forum,” as the present online aggregate is now called, has enabled neighbors, especially those who are elderly, to become better acquainted. Many times, the initial awkwardness of visiting or conversing with poorly known neighbors works to defeat any seed of potential interaction and much more the chance at establishing any type of genuine relationship. The “Front Porch Forum,” however, ingeniously works to undermine this awkwardness by removing that often distressing first-time meeting. For lack of a better phraseology, the “ice” is essentially “broken” through more comfortable interactions within more secure settings. In this way, neighbors get to know one another at their own pace and can better prepare to later start a more grounded relationship with those they will one day tangibly meet. Apparently, many of the relationships and actions which have resulted through even the most simple of forum posts have been focal in nature (take for instance the procurement of a canoe for a little girl who wanted to go canoeing with her friends for her birthday). The beneficial outcomes of this type of networking are undoubtedly many. However, I believe that the “Front Porch Forum” does run the risk of establishing and maintaining disengagement and a lack of focal practices/things. It runs this risk if stagnation occurs. By stagnation, I refer to the idea that the “Front Porch Forum” may, by distancing the initial interactions between individuals, work to construct the safe environment of impersonal interaction. Neighbors, instead of acting on forum posts which call for interaction or neighborly assistance, might ignore forum posts which demand this. The onus thus rests upon the individual person using the internet forum. To prove my points about the ostensible negative features of “Front Porch Forum,” just look at Facebook. The same positive features mentioned above regarding “Front Porch Forum” could also be said about Facebook. Facebook brings groups of people together and works to create a great many events which could be considered focal in the strictest sense. Yet, many of us, on our recent essay exam, likely wrote about the disengagement engendered through using Facebook. Why is there disengagement if Facebook, like “Front Porch Forum,” offers benefits: because there are people involved. It is critical to note that the most absolute form of disengagement comes at the hands of the user. By failing to act upon opportunities for establishing relational intimacy, the Facebook user denies himself/herself engagement and exposure to focal things/practices. It is not hard to envision a re-creation of this scenario within the realm of the “Front Porch Forum.” Furthermore, another community, one which isn’t enveloped in the rural roots present in Vermont, might reject interaction and suffer stagnation due to its very cultural composition. The constitution of both the person and the culture appear to be important here. The internet forum also runs the risk of maintaining disengagement through its leanings towards mass commercialization. What started as a grass roots project to unite a neighborhood has now become a company which enwraps two Vermont counties. Although the spread is still minute when compared to the greater population of the United States, it is not inconceivable that “Front Porch Forum” could grow to become merely a commodity present for millions of consumers…I mean “neighbors.” I do realize that the article does seem to imply limits of about 400 homes in each forum community (this prerequisite smallness is definitely a step in the right direction), but I am still not sure that such a large number would fail to overwhelm forum users. It may push users into stagnation and relegate the usage of the forum to mere commodity. It is also plausible that larger forum communities could spring up as the company evolved to accommodate a more state/region-friendly outlook.

Internet forums represent an interesting possible means by which the reformation of technology could take place. Ironically however, they also remind us that it is ultimately humanity and not technology which stands in the best position to reign in the excesses of the device paradigm.