Plaxo and Community

I was pleasantly surprised to find this post by Dr.Tax, which is motivated by Plaxo v LinkedIn:

A few years ago Robert Putnam wrote a book called Bowling Alone which argued that civic institutions were falling by the wayside - things like bowling leagues and Elks clubs. Putnam's argument reminded me a lot of Malthus - who for save a few changes like the invention of the steel plow might have been a bit more on target. In Putnam's case he was struck on the notion of geographic proximity. In this world that is increasingly unimportant. As the communities of the last century begin to falter - the new ones are taking their place. Plaxo and LinkedIn are but two examples.

I am in love with Plaxo - a personal contact management technology that is at once efficient and life-saving (for those of us who define "death" as a computer crash with totally MS Outlook). In the arms race of social networking technologies, I've been on and off and on LinkedIn, with mixed results. I quite enjoy Facebook, and only wish more folks from my generation would participate. I suppose these things will cross-pollinate features until they get it perfect. Or is there such thing as a perfect technology?  (long answer: No, progress is infinite.  See Viriginia Postrel.  Short answer: Yes.  See Pac-Man, Summer, 1980).

Comments

[Richard Boly]

Putnam also saw the Emilia Romagna region of Italy as an epicenter of social capital (see: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/assoc/13putn.html)

I have been part of a two-year U.S. Embassy program to promote a new venture ecosystem in Italy. We have found that Silicon-Valley style easy networking, where you freely connect two people you know because you believe each will benefit from the relationship -- regardless if you do -- is much more difficult in Italy. Those physical boundaries that created the "communal republics" that Putnam praises, create barriers. People may network freely within their region, but may be unaware of a kindred soul working in a related field on the other side of Italy.

BTW Three days ago, I launched a LinkedIn group for the Embassy's entrepreneurial program -- the Partnership for Growth. We already have nearly 250 quality members of the group, most of whom are new contacts for us.