Chumdinger

If you haven’t read Part One, lets recap.

Back in the day, people lived closer and had community with each other. In Los Angeles and many other places, we’re so spread out, that we generally don’t. With the some of these popular web applications going mobile, how do we use them to help build real authentic community?

Maybe it’s best explained by an example. Last week, a few of us decided to go see the new Indiana Jones movie. I posted the time and place on Twitter & Facebook just 2 hours before and invited anyone in proximity of the theater to join us.

“Do people even read these updates?” I thought, “Would anyone change their schedule to join us?”

To our surprise, we were joined by a friend who was in the neighborhood. She was headed to the library and took a detour to hang out with us before the movie. And another friend met up with us late. I got a text in the dark theater “I’m here, hold up your phone”

Other friends have done spontaneous lunches and get togethers too. But imagine the possibilities. Lets say you’re getting your oil changed. You have half an hour of waiting so you twitter it and brightkite your location… or if you’re layover at DFW just got delayed for 3 more hours… or if you have time between meeting and looking to fill time. Making connections are easier with just a text message to Twitter.

So Twitter works for organizing events. But it also works for staying connected. Know what’s been going on between emails, between phone calls, between meeting up in person. So when you do meet up in person, imagine not having to spend the first half hour catching up on what’s been going on but on conversations that move into more substantial topics… ideas, relationships, God.

But how about creating community to those we don’t know?

Jared K. & I set up a Twitter feed last week at the Foundry and displayed it on the jumbotron in front of 200 people. It automatically refreshed and included an invitation for all to join in. And people started to use it. Mostly to say hi and to see if the technology worked. But there is huge potential here for people to interact, for conversations to be started, for new friends to be made.

Imagine this set up at a busy coffee shop. Instead of people with their heads focused on their laptops, you could get some interactions going. Brightkite gives you the option of notifying you if other Brightkite users (even strangers) are at the same place you are. And if a conversation start because of it, then you’ve just made the world a smaller place. People actually talking to people.

Isn’t that what dog owners do? They have more liberty to talk to other dogs owners because they already have that in common. But many of us can’t own dogs, or aren’t willing to clean up after them. Many of us want to interact with others and not be isolated beings, we were made that way. And now these mobile technologies are helping us, but it’s not without it’s hurdles.

There’s a slight technical hurdle to overcome. Some people refuse to even use text messages saying “if you really want to talk to me, you’ll call me”. But we can’t call 20 friends to catch up everyday, can we? Even at 10 minutes each conversation, that’s 3 hours.

And there probably needs to be a balance of giving out too much information vs. being a hermit. It’s probably a different amount for each person and I’m still trying to find that balance.

“Community takes a lot of effort.” my friend James says.

We all want to stay in touch, but we want to do it with as little effort as possible. With our handful of core friends, it’s easy. But with good friends that we don’t see all the time, it’s a little tougher.

Twitter, Facebook, Brightkite, and other mobile technologies makes this effort easier, with tool to get people talking, interacting, and involved with each others’ lives. Not just virtually, but away from our computers in the real world.