“The internet has shaped our interactions in many ways,” Dr. Feenberg told Bored Panda. “For example, it allowed communities to form across space (allowing various uses of anonymity), enabled education during the the covid crisis, allowing individuals with unorthodox opinions to find each other and to form groups, provided an electronic version of matchmaking, organized a better alternative to the taxi, and so on.
“Before answering machines, one had to be home or at the office to get a call. Then came the answering machine and location no longer mattered. Now, with the internet, time is also irrelevant since messages can be received whenever and wherever.”
Marc Smith seconded the idea that the online world has made connecting easier. “The internet reduced the costs of collective action and association. Getting 1000 or more people to all gather in the same place and time is a very difficult task. Getting 1000 or more people to focus on the same digital space is relatively much easier. As a result, almost every topic of collective interest has attracted a group of interested people to a digital point where they can engage in mutually beneficial exchange.”
