Kiwanis, Social Networking and Joining

So, about two months ago I joined the Valley of the Sun Kiwanis club, the oldest one in Phoenix.

Yep. It was a surprise to me, too.

I did not announce it during the campaign because I thought that would seem a little like I was joining because of the campaign.

In any case, I never saw myself as the kind that would join the Rotary/Kiwanis/Lions kind of groups.

There was something a little too “Fred Flintstone and the Water Buffaloes” about it for me. Plus, I never got the sense that they did a whole lot these days, being that they all seemed to be a hold over from 1950’s Americana.

But my friends Sid Rosen and Bryce Johnson (the guys who collaborated on the geothermal heated and cooled house in CenPho) took me to one of their bi-weekly lunches a few months ago and it started my little pea brain a-turnin’.

Remember the book from 1995 called Bowling Alone? The premise was that Americans are joining less and doing more isolating activities, such as watching TV or playing on the computer. The generation that followed all of the folks who had joined these groups en masse saw these groups as passe, or part of the power structure (to be avoided). The generation after that generation (my generation) could not be bothered to figure out what all the fuss was about.

The result, according to the author, could be that our important social fabric could be torn and we would lose the benefit of people giving back to their communities, etc., etc.

Now, to be fair, and as a nod to my girlfriend, I should tell you that I never read the book. But I was in grad school at the time and as long as I got the premise and some supporting facts, I was good to go. (Hey, I had to read over 1,000 pages per week for school. That’s the best I could do.)

Point is, there was a lot of fear about the fate of America’s future as a society that had previously worked together and played together.

Fast forward through the eras of bulletin boards, AOL and blogs to where we are now: The Land of Facebook and Twitter.

Everybody is joining. Everybody feels like they are part of a community. We “like” things our friends say. We “share” videos. We invite each other to things that most of our invitees will ignore.

Its as if the tendency to join things skipped a generation. Younger people are joining things, but not in the way they would have 60 years ago. It is quick and easy to join now. Probably too quick and easy.

It is a little superficial in a way; a little hollow. We are getting credit for being part of a community without doing as much leg work. The result is that we may not be getting as much done as we think we are. I think as time goes on, people will look for more.

So, I think we are going to come full circle. People will start joining again in person, but it will look a little different. I think that the social networking will have its own life, but it will do a better job of supporting the live activities that give people a sense of belonging and accomplishment.

I don’t think this is just me, either, by the way. I’ve spoken to a number of people my age and younger who are looking at these groups all over again. There is a nexus between social networking and live social service organizations and I’m hearing people talk about it.

So, that is what I want to explore. That is why I joined.

I joined this Kiwanis, in particular, because it is downtown. I have been active here ever since I moved to Phoenix in 1998 and this is where it counts. It seems to make sense along with the other things I do in this neck of the woods, too.

I look forward to see this group grow in the future. I’ve already seen one new member since I joined.

Who knows. Could be a trend. But I refuse to wear a water buffalo hat.