Following on from the bin wars thread, where it was suggested that the victim change his wireless ID to 'stop dumping crap in my bins'.. I got to thinking..
With such a well established internet community, where we all can, and do, interact with folk from all over the globe pretty much in real time, every day.. But in a world where many of us may not even know our next door neighbours name..
Should local community forums and message boards be a much higher priority than they are now..?
Maybe when we move to a new street we should be encouraged as a matter of course, to sign up to the neighbourhood message board where introductions can be made, disputes can be aired, vulnerable neighbours checked upon, community projects organised, gossip exchanged..?
If it really is too hard for us to speak to our neighbours.. maybe this could be an alternative way to try and re-instil a sense of community spirit..?
or you could just go and introduce yourself..., always worked for me
yunki, you shat on my begonias
always worked for me
well done Numpty Dumpty, for a prize, you can have this box of dates left over from christmas 1975..
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My point was kind of based on the fact that not everyone seems inclined to pop round and introduce themselves so readily as you..
Always good excuse to stick this on.
I think it helps to have kids. When I was growing up we lived in a close with a lot of other kids, and all families knew each other. My parents used to have a New Years party every year, and the neighbours would all come round. One year another neighbour opened their house too as so many people were coming, I can remember following my dad around to other houses drinking their booze (mine was a very weak shandy - I was <10).
Now I live next to a weird lady who talks to her cat, and a young South African couple who have loud parties 3/4 times a week. We are on good morning terms with one neighbour but only because the FiL started speaking to him.
It might also have been a rural thing, we lived in a small town growing up, and people knew everyone in the town. I live in London.
As the great Miranda Hart once said: 😀
"Do you remember what life used to be like?… I think with all your gadgetry you are never really present, never really focused on making an effort to meet people and talk, because you can communicate so easily and quickly. But it’s not real communication is it?"
"See,that’s the trouble. We now only really have fluffy relationships. So we’re all communicating all the time on email, Twitter and text, but we are not really communicating. I’ve suddenly found that I don’t really know people like I used to know them. Everyone’s so busy, and the television’s on, the computer’s on and there’s this constant noise, and you think you’re in communication, but actually I don’t think you are."
I agree.. but I'm not sure if we can turn the tide can we..?
It's difficult, other than a basic 'humanness' and location I dont; share an awful lot of interests with my neighbours.
When the kids were younger it was easy to talk about them but now, once we've got past the pleasantries it all gets a bit awkward.
In days of yore when neighbours were all you had to talk to then I can see it might have been worth making an effort. Now, maybe it's better to chat with personas/people you share interests with wherever they are?
My 15 year old has 'freinds' all over the country via facebook and x-box. He talks to his cousins regularly whilst gaming (I think I saw mine once a year at Christmas) and is talkign abotu going up to Scotland (we're on the south coast) when he's old enough to see freinds there.
I think for most people the internet/social media has opened the world up, not shut them in their houses.
[edit] even just seeing a sunday ride mentioned online and trunign up on the offchance is a 'new' thing of the past 10 or 15 years?
I have always called on my neighbours BEFORE i buy the house. supposedly to ask a pertinent question but really to assess the level of potential aggro
but I'm not sure if we can turn the tide can we..?
I think the pendulum has swung too far on this, and sooner or later people will realise what's missing & it'll swing back the other way a bit, and we'll have more of a healthy balance.
I think for most people the internet/social media has opened the world up, not shut them in their houses.
They're all shut in their houses sat in front of a laptop, massively aware of all sorts of things going on in the world, mostly involving z-list 'celebrities', but no idea what the person living 10 feet away is called.
the joys of the nuclear family-- isn't this a by product of alienation, that capitalism forces the worker to chase work all over the place, he/she lives/works away from old support systems, then wonders why it feels a bit odd ?