Social capital, bonding, and bridging

Social capital, bonding, and bridging. I attended a talk tonight by Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, a study of the sharp decline of social capital over the last 30 years. The decline is measured as a loss of connectedness: people less willing to join organizations, to be civically involved, even to entertain friends at home. [Jon’s Radio]

Jon makes the point that right now, there is more ‘bonding’ going on between people of like interests than ‘bridging’ across lines. I certainly see that as well, as the number of non-tech, non-news channels is quite limited right now.

For example, one of my interests is health and healing. I’ve got a category of my overall blog that addresses just that area. Yet, I also know that I may be the sole geek/massage therapist using Radio for blogging right now. That doesn’t stop me from watching the wires for health topics, and adding my own thoughts to my blog at http://www.leaders.net/health. Someday, someone will find it, find it useful, and subscribe.

I believe web communities and blogs are powerful and offer opportunities for global thought leadership to “anyone” whether or not they are inside typical power structures. Yet, the face-to-face interactions I have with people are what fill my heart and give me perspectives worth sharing. Ultimately, the best bloggers are those that “see” the faces of friends (and challengers) when they write.