What is the effect of social media on community?

Like most teens today you can catch me spending most of my time socializing on Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc. I have always seen social media as a fast, efficient, and hassle-free way to connect with my friends, family, and other worldly events. But after I attended the Asset Based Community Development Lunch at the Church of the Brethren in Arlington, Virginia this afternoon, I began to question how much social media really helps us stay connected.

At this lunch Arlingtonians and other important figures in Arlington’s community came to listen and discuss guest speaker John McKnight’s ideas on how to improve our local community. McKnight, the author of The Abundant Community, emphasized that in order to improve Arlington’s community we must first realize that, our community can be improved by our citizens, and not just volunteers or heads of local organizations. He then went on to explain that in order to improve any community you have to look at what he called the six neighborhood necessities: health, safety, economy, environment, food, and children.

McKnight believes that Arlington citizens can improve all six neighborhood necessities but only if we come together as a community. He then expressed concern about today’s growing virtual community. . He is worried that people today (especially teens) are involved with socializing through the internet rather then with people in their community.McKnight’s concern with social media brought up an interesting discussion on the pros and cons of using social media to unite a community

It’s interesting to note social media eliminates the stimulation of the five senses when socializing with someone face- to- face.During McKnight’s discussion it seemed this aspect of social media was seen as a negative. But, on the other hand, I can also see this as a positive. For example, some people feel more comfortable socializing through the Internet. In my experience, socializing through the internet allows some people to be more outgoing. There are a number of questions like this that have to be considered when trying to figure out how beneficial social media can be in today’s society.

• For instance, does the internet help people broaden their community or does it work to isolate people even more?
• Is the internet or local community a better source of useful life experiences?
• Since there are so many pros and cons of using social media, can we give social media a specific label as to whether it has a positive or negative effect on an ever evolving community?