The Internet and social networking

The Pew Internet and American Life Project in it's report "The Social Side of the Internet" states that "Fully 80% of internet users are active in one kind of group or another, compared with 56% of non‐internet users; and 86% of cell owners are active in a group, compared with 62% of non‐cell owners."  If you want to be socially active, the Internet is where it's at.

This is a marked contrast to what Robert D. Putnam was fretting over in his 2000 book "Bowling Alone."  He claimed, with many statistics, to show that Americans are becoming more and more isolated and less social.  He did not, however, spend much time in his book thinking about the Internet.  This is where you can find like-minded people, or people with your same interests, quickly and worldwide.  No longer is your search for friends, social groups, or even "community" restricted geographically.

Project Chanology, the Anonymous branch that protests the Church of Scientology, came about because geographic boundaries no longer matter for collective action.  They have been protesting worldwide from their very beginnings in 2008 to this day. 

Because Putnam didn't perceive the changes and new abilities the Internet provides for social activity, he missed where "community" was moving to.  Likewise, people who feared that the Internet would isolate people did not foresee Facebook, twitter, and the multitude of forums that have sprung up.  Turns out people are still social, they just added a new tool to make socializing easier and better.