Sound and Fury, Signifying Community

[drwex]

So there was a dumb trash piece in the Herald. So a lot of folk got riled up. So the Diesel fielded a bunch of idiot phone calls. So, lots of dire predictions about people showing up and trolling. And in the end, lots of the community showed up and it was good to see them and, afaik, there were no trolls. A couple of new-ish faces, but really a big nothing. As I predicted. And am thankful for. The Diesel remains one of the great third places, of which we have far too few, and the community continues not to motivate to activities other than this one gathering.

Comments

[entrope.livejournal.com]

I like the link.

What do you think is the hindrance to planning other gatherings? I haven't lived here long enough to know all the ins, outs, politics, etc.

[drwex]

This is probably a discussion better held in person or on poly-chat, but here's my extremely quick take on it:

- lameness. People feel talked out and don't motivate to talk more. LJ and other online communities contribute to this.
- laziness. People don't want to schlep around, or add another event to their calendars.
- location. People (rightly) figure it's a hassle to commute around, especially out of town, around rush hour and it needs to be in-town for people with no cars but nobody in-town has a big enough place to host this kind of gathering without it feeling cramped, which discourages people from showing up.