Incidental Groups

First let me thank all of you for your support and attention.  It is incredibly gratifying to know you are all there!

Facebook is a rather amazing platform actually!  At a time when we all feel overwhelmed and fractured by the blizzard of information assaulting us every day, here is this magical technical platform that enables us to form what my old Sociology teacher always referred to as ‘incidental groups’.  We all have ‘history’ and that history’s path leads us through periods of our lives that are populated by different people who really have no connection with each other.

And yet Facebook enables each of us to assemble a unique incidental group representing our historical path through life and to connect the individuals in that incidental group to each other and to ourselves.  The implication is that theoretically there is cross-fertilization of ideas and better understanding of complex issues because there are more minds to review and comment.  Do you think that is true? ...Or has it only muddled the discourse and led to hardening of positions.  My hope would be that we would all have tolerance and consideration for alternate points of view.

What nobody foresaw was the weaponization of this platform into an organ used by nefarious actors to mislead and misinform literally millions of people.  That is what happened during the 2016 general election.  There are many people who now perceive Facebook and Google as ‘publishers’ who should be subject to regulation so as to protect the consumer from spurious information and fake news.  That will be an interesting battle!

But I digress…..the fact that I can remain connected to so many wonderful relationships and acquaintances makes me feel connected to my past in the most surprising and welcome way.  Imagine (or remember) whether it would have been as easy to maintain connection with people in your history if the year were 1985.  Impossible.  So let’s enjoy the benefit of this ubiquitous platform for what it does provide—a way to express our love and admiration for all those great people we have been blessed to know and now continue to enjoy.

I will keep on trying to disregard the annoying ‘sponsored ads’ and gratuitous ‘quizzes’ that I become suckered into participating in…  :=)