Civic community thinning in America predated the commercial internet

Evidence

We need livable alternatives. It is a matter of survival (and not just survival, but flourishing, too). These nourishing forms of togetherness are in fundamental ways at odds with the ersatz “connectivity” of the digital world. After all, the rise of the internet has coincided with the accelerating disappearance of these thicker forms of community. This process was already underway in 1995, when the sociologist Robert Putnam published his now-famous essay “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.” Putnam’s essay chronicled the thinning out of American social life, which could be seen in the weakening of civic organizations (Kiwanis, Elks, Masons), the slump in voter turnout, and, per his titular metaphor, the decreasing proportion of people bowling in leagues. — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 295

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s existing work on how institutions emerge and how social capital functions — Bowling Alone data parallels the Milgrom/Coleman material. — connects to: Civic organizations across America faded dramatically in the late twentieth century. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 22; American community group membership rose steadily for decades before the 1960s — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 24; The commercial attention economy feeds on pre-existing civic community decline — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!: A Manifesto of the…, 296 (+3 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Civic organizations across America faded dramatically in the late twentieth century. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 22; American community group membership rose steadily for decades before the 1960s — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 24; The commercial attention economy feeds on pre-existing civic community decline — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!: A Manifesto of the…, 296 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Thicker communities were already dissolving before the digital attention economy arose #corroborates (0.95) — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 295