The Promise Remains Alive…
It seems, we need (or at least greatly benefit) from the tension between community and individual as manifested on the Web, at least according to Weinberger’s chapter on “Togetherness” in Small Pieces Loosely Joined (2002). If one extrapolates from his argument, one can argue that online offers greater opportunities to balance the tension between the individual and the community or public. Offline we become part of the faceless mass – losing our individuality. Online – groups provide us with the mirrors we need to see ourselves. We are both separate and together – all at the same time. Never able to truly understand each others’ souls but at the same time we are all human. As Weinberger puts it “Many small faces, each distinct within the multitude†(p. 120).
It is easy to argue that Weinberger is a countercultural at heart. He is connected to the promise of that the Web offers for connection and individuality. He is like Brilliant and the other Well founders – or like Rheingold – seeing the great potential that it offers to face true reality.
He ends the chapter with “You could build a new destiny for your species on an idea as radical as that†(p. 120).
Is he an idealist that dreams for utopia? Can the internet live up to the promise to separate us from the masses without disconnecting us altogether?
