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Isn't the web amazing?

But are we really using this technology to its maximum effect, or are we ignoring a huge amount of its real potential?

In previous columns I've suggested that television has been responsible for the destruction of the community spirit and an important aspect of our society.

Those readers who are old enough will recall that before the arrival of TV, neighbours used to spend a lot more time socialising with each other and that just about everyone in a street knew just about everyone else.

If someone was ill or away on holiday, everyone else knew about it and would lend a hand by dropping in to check and perhaps even mowing their lawns or performing other little chores.

Thanks to TV, people now tend to lock themselves up in their little houses at the end of the working day and sit fixated in front of the box -- watching such wonderfully entertaining programs as NZ Idol, Survivor, and Fear Factor.

Meanwhile, their aged neighbours could be sick, dying, or already dead from neglect and nobody would even notice -- not even during the increasingly protracted ad breaks.

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So where does the Net come into all this?

Well I am a member of probably half a dozen online communities.

And yes, these are *real* communities, where people know each other very well, engage in sparkling conversation and debate, and even care enough about each other to show real concern when one of the group falls on hard times.

In effect, these cybercommunities represent much of what was so nice about life in the pre-TV era.

Now, while this is all very nice, it's also strangely ironic that, thanks to the Net, many people have closer relationships with friends who live as much as half a world away, than they do with the people who live just over their back fence.

Clearly the need and desire to feel like part of a community hasn't been completely destroyed by TV, but it has been massively altered by what amounts to a smorgasbord of endless "entertainment".

Perhaps, due at least in part to the Net, we're now seeing a renaissance in the neighbourhood spirit -- albeit on a virtual level.

Could it be that the multitude of "reality TV" shows that litter our screens these days is a further indication that, deep down, we all long to be part of a group of our peers -- even if only vicariously.

In light of this obvious human need, I'm surprised that there are so very few "neighbourhood web" schemes on the Net.

Imagine how a community website set up by the members of a neighbourhood could enhance that area.

Do you really know what's going on in your street? Don't you think it might be nice to find out who your neighbours are?

Given that so many people have limited time for socialising these days, maybe a neighbourhood website might be a great way to kick-start a return to the good old days when your neighbours were also your friends.

Or am I just dreaming?

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