The United States made a choice yesterday. We elected a man who, despite being a minority, despite being “inexperienced,” despite attempting to avoid cheap politics, promises that he will do everything he can to help unite the country. And he needs our help. That’s the point, after all, isn’t it? The UNITED States of America. We are a community of millions of people, living and working together for a common good. We all have the responsibility, the duty, to do our part to make this country what we want it to be. We all have to “live the change we want to see.” It’s not socialism or communism or any other ism. It’s community. I see it in the friends I’ve made online through services such as Twitter and Seesmic, who are so very different from me, but who are so very dear to me because we are united in those communities. I see it in the commuters and workers and citizens of New York City, who despite their gruff exteriors and banal problems, still support each other during times of strife, times of celebration, and times in general. I see it in the 64% of the eligible United States voters who made their voices heard, despite fierce campaigns, bad weather, and long lines. And I see it in myself, who until this year, never really gave a damn about much of anything. Now I have a community to take care of, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let my community down.

I’d like to hear your take on unity. I’m going to keep the meme alive by tagging:

Adele McAlear

Miss Something

Rob Blatt

Giannii

Annie (Banannie)

Vinvin

A Seesmic member has passed - Craig ManganelloWe all knew Craig was going in for surgery this past week. He posted from the hospital the day before his operation.

A friend of his just wrote me an email saying that Craig passed away Thursday night due to complications from his surgery.

I have asked for information about where people might make donations or contact the family. If anyone has a way to get in touch with his family and wishes to pass it along, please send me a private video.

Later that night, Tracy Apps posted a brief tribute to Craig:

I didn’t know Craig. I hadn’t formed a relationship with him the way some others had, though I knew who he was and what he did. I’d seen some of his posts, and he seemed like a genuinely fine man. I could see the pain in the eyes of the people who had known and interacted with him, these people who had a relationship with him. As the posts rolled in as people learned of Craig’s death, I began to think about the nature of our relationships online versus those we have “in real life.” Then, Seesmic regular Freida Wolden posted a video that drove the point home:

Bad events occur all the time in life, and karma, or luck, or whatever you prefer to call it, does not discriminate. Any one of us could be hurt or killed at any moment, but we continue to live our lives despite that risk. My concern is that as we develop these close relationships through tools like Seesmic - tools which allow us a much closer feeling of companionship and camaraderie than simple text based exchanges ever could - we are opening ourselves to a higher level of personal emotional risk. But allow me to clarify: I don’t think this is bad. I’ve gained some great friends since joining the Seesmic community, many of whom I have met or plan to meet in person. The video aspect has allowed for a deeper understanding of who these people are, so that when we do meet in person, there is almost no awkwardness. We simply pick up as if we’d been friends for years. I love this aspect of social media, as it eases the initial icebreaking phase of relationship building. In the video conversation world, there is no small talk; if you see a conversation, you don’t truly have to look someone in the eye first and try to break in. You just do. It’s expected and welcome. This is something new in the art of conversation, and for people like me, who are shy and intimidated in new social situations, it’s a true blessing. It makes looking someone in the eye in real life that much easier when the time comes.

I now find myself caring a great deal for some of the people with whom I’ve built and maintained relationships over the last year or so. With this concern for my friends’ well being, I also find myself at least keeping the idea that something could happen to them in the back of my mind. Events like marriages, breakups, births and deaths - things from every day life - now become a major and distinct part of the phrase “online community,” moreso, I think, than ever before. But I also realize now that we’re creating deep friendships - and sometimes more - that could end in a heartbeat.

Filed Under Movies/Film, Music, New/Social Media, News, Picture Post, Ramblings, Television, VideoPost, communication | 2 Comments

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