Long silences abound here: I’m full-on focused on the other half of my life at the moment, and the deadlines attached to that, but wanted to mention an upcoming event–Hacking Reality: Communities and Confrontation.
Blurb!
Join us at the Academy of the Impossible on Thursday, April 18 for the latest in our series examining the Internet and online culture.
Confrontation is inevitable (and arguably necessary) in any engaged community. Conflict is often a catalyst for deepening perspective, but disagreements about values and lived experiences can get messy, especially in the coliseums of social media. The Internet also provides a perpetually and rapidly cycling landscape of events, statements and issues that illuminate (or even stoke) conflict. Can discussion groups with shared/overlapping interests navigate these tensions while preserving solidarity and respect, or are occasional and permanent fissures a fact of community life?
The salon will be moderated by writer, editor and ever-reasonable human Leah Bobet, and is the brainchild of internet feminist Steph Guthrie and comedian and podcaster Dan Speerin. Discussion will touch on the many ways we approach conflict on the Internet, and how these confrontations both express and shape their online communities.
The free event begins promptly at 7pm.
Aside from the fact that I’m quite flattered to have been asked to moderate the night, it’s an interesting topic: How we work together, and how we fall apart. Communities aren’t handed down to us; they evolve, and they can be built or changed, and I’m looking forward to some thoughtful discussion on setting the tone from the bottom up, what a community is–and how we can individually, hands-on, make our communities stronger and kinder.
If you’ve got thoughts on the topic, or experience from any walk of life you’d like to share, please consider this your personal invitation.
The Way Forward Machine 