20 Predictions for Community in the 2020s
the.community.club
the.community.club
This is a great point that deserves more attention.
There is a distinct difference between audience and community that I haven't seen discussed enough, particularly in regards to the state of the internet over the past ten years.
Without getting too optimistic, I'd place a bet that the transition to a community-focussed, opposed to audience-focussed, internet would do wonders for our current "fake news" phenomenon.
I would take that bet, the exact opposite is what is happening. An audience tends not to be an echo chamber. The echo chambers are exactly the problem of why fake news is prevalent. I have found myself in several echo chambers and that's where fake news thrives.
These are certainly communities. In fact I would go so far as to say they are rather neutral in terms of their politics or at least should be.
The interesting thing is that I'm there for the original purpose and politics sort of comes up. This wouldn't become a big deal as that should at most become epistemic bubble based on the average bias of the community. The problem is that they have become echo chambers. They are hostile toward anyone posing an alternative viewpoint.
This isn't something new in the last year or something. It has been building for 10 years or more. It's not social media because social media isn't involved at all. My going theory is that it's a political schism caused by identity politics.
When looking at history, these never turn out well. I have seen quite a few democrat aligned folks calling for civil war.