“If we consider our interactions in in-person and
digital relationships, the exchange is much more diverse today than it
was ten
years ago. This opens new possibilities for collaboration on issues that
are
important to us.”

If Robert Putnam bemoaned the decline of in-person social
interaction in his 1995 book, Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social
Capital, what time has borne out is that Iowans in the early 21st
century crave connectivity as much as they ever did. If participation in
American society was on the decline during the Clinton years, the 2000 election,
culminating in the U.S. Supreme Court decision to stop counting the votes in
Florida, reversed that. The notion that the 2000 election was won by Al Gore,
but George W. Bush was inaugurated, served to activate middle of the road
Democrats who were previously busy with careers, faith and family. It took us 8
years to gain control of the government, and when we did, the more conservative
part of society began to realize what was happening and is having their own
awakening today. Putnam may have accurately observed American society in the
1990s, but much has changed since then.

When we consider life in Iowa, most Iowans are connected to newspapers
(print and digital), radio (traditional and streaming), television (broadcast,
satellite and cable) and the internet. While connecting everyone in rural Iowa
to broadband hasn’t happened, it will. Broadband is expected to be as common as
electricity in Iowa even if business and government have not figured out how to
get that done. What this increased connectivity means is that things like
letters to the editor (digital and print), radio call-in shows and internet
based social media have been added to other social groups, like churches,
libraries, veterans organizations, service clubs, the senior center, motorcycle
rides, RAGBRAI, our workplace and political meetings in which many adults already
participate. Life can get very busy with all of this social interaction going
on. Increasingly, digital interaction has come to be perceived as on an equal
basis with in-person interaction.

However our lives in society change in the future, it will
be arguably for the better. If we consider our interactions in in-person and
digital relationships, the exchange is much more diverse today than it was ten
years ago. This opens new possibilities for collaboration on issues that are
important to us. To effectively collaborate, we need to be
connected with each other. Interaction and collaboration feed upon each other,
and this is true whether the group is an individual family or a world-wide
network of acquaintances.

So what does this mean to Iowans? In 2010, there are
many more opportunities for social engagement than ever. To manage our lives (family,
faith, work and society) takes effort. To manage them well takes consideration
and planning. How we get information is an important aspect of this. Blog for Iowa
has long been an advocate for media reform and the amount of information
available to us is exploding. None of it is without an ideological viewpoint,
whether it comes from neighbors, pastors, corporate media, blogs or our
parents.

My recommendation is start actively managing the information
upon which you base life’s decisions and how you participate in society. If you
don’t already follow your favorite writers, start by signing up for an iGoogle page and make
Blog for Iowa your first RSS feed. Another way to do this would be to sign up for Google Reader which would collect
stories from your favorite sources. Once you have done this, expand your
network. Consider adding Twitter, Linked In or Facebook to the mix. What you are
likely to find is that there are real people behind all of the computer code
and that the possibilities for collaboration and engagement exist in ways that may
not have been otherwise possible. Yes, there are creepy people in society that
can hold us back. In my experience, the rewards of in-person and digital relationships
far outweigh the risks and enhance our progress as a society.

~Paul
Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County and weekend
editor of Blog for Iowa. He is also a member of Iowa Physicians for
Social Responsibility and Veterans for Peace. E-mail Paul
Deaton

Here are links to some of the author's favorite writers:

Robert Reich

Thomas Friedman

Kelly Fuller

Suelo

Arjun Makhijani

2C: The FCNL Staff Blog