Community

Can social networks be a community?

The official definition of community according to Webster is: a group of people who live in the same area (such as a city, town, or neighborhood).

I suppose, in a technologically contained world, a social network can be part of a community; if the people in my social network live near me. That seems to defeat the purpose though. I think that most people join a social network to keep in touch with others that live afar. I know a close friend of mine opened her social network account because her family lives in Nepal and she lives here in the northwest. Social networking helps to keep them in touch, sharing photos and current events. My family and I keep in constant contact, without modern technology we would not be able to text, talk and share photos all day long. My brother lives in California, my sister in Hawaii ,while I live in the northwest. I can also be sure my daughter is where she is supposed to be with GPS (Global Positioning System used by sky satellites and cellphone tower relay stations), provided she has her phone and in almost all cases the phone needs to be on.

Now that I have shared the positive points of technology and being able to keep up with my community.

My experience, with regards to maintaining relationships, will only work if they have previously been established. To me, there is something missing in obtaining relationship through technology. I suppose I am old fashioned, but I like to be able to touch, feel, smell, and have eye contact with the people I am communicating with. How can I get to know my community without these things? A hand shake, a conversation with eye contact. I do realize this does work for some, their entire community is built on social network or technology. It seems to me that close, honest relationships need to have human contact.