Thicker communities were already dissolving before the digital attention economy arose

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 Putnam’s ‘Bowling Alone’ literature on civic decline.