Network neighborhoods

Thank you all for the many comments on timing. Looks like I'll go back to posting on the original schedule. My son will have to cope. People have connected together for as long as we have existed. First in small families and tribes, to villages, cities, then neighborhoods when cities became large enough to support subsets. And music has traditionally been listened to in groups as well, both small and large. When you connect through forums, emails, tweets, chats, posts, and blogs you join community through an electrical network. At first I found it disconnecting to be alone in front of an electronic device. I was used to face-to-face, phone-to-phone, even letter-to letter, but computer to computer? It was odd, and now it is part of my fabric. I, we, you are connected together in a way never dreamed of by our ancestors. I have friends and community around the world: England, Japan, Germany, Australia and countries I can barely pronounce and will likely never visit. Not too long ago like-minded stereo lovers built communities through hi fi dealers, clubs and written newsletters. Today the landscape has changed, yet the urge to participate in community hasn't diminished, it has only grown in global proportions. I count among my friends hundreds of people I may never touch or see, yet they are as real as if they were in my living room now. Networks connect us together; over your neighbor's fence or your mobile phone, it's all the same. Only the size of the neighborhood changes.