Penso che Alfredo Bregni, Fiorella De Cindio, Giulio Beltrami e gli altri promotori della Rete Civica Milanese capiscano perfettamente questo grido di dolore. Begin forwarded message:

From: Miles Fidelman via InternetPolicy <internetpolicy@elists.isoc.org> Date: 9 February 2025 at 18:37:55 CET Subject: [Internet Policy] How Do We Reboot a Spirit of Cooperation & Collaboration? A Little Help, Please!

At least some of us, here, were involved w/ FreeNets and the early days of Community Memory, bulletin boards, FidoNet, community networks - attempts to build an American Public Telecommunications Network of FreeNets, and an Association for Community Media for cable access channels. All of that was lost when FaceBook & Social Media & NextDoor & local websites hosted by big ate the world.

My work at the Center for Civic Networking - and now with Civic.Net and ThisOldNeighborhood.Net - is an attempt to recreate a network of public spaces on the Internet - an Internet or Syndicate of Neighborhood Networks & Civic Forums - but there are not a lot of Neighborhood Networks or Civic Forums to integrate.

It seems like folks don't want to talk with each other anymore. The polarizers, and propagandists, and market segmentationists have done their work all too well. People don't come to town meeting or condo meetings. Everyone wants to be a rockstar and a solopreneur, rather than part of a team, or a community. Folks flock to the latest personality or fad, a virtual event with a politician or media personality - but actually sit down to think and work together, to mutual benefit - not so much. Folks will march for this cause or that, work for politicians, buy snake-oil. Some will go to Cons and LARPs, and build a city in the dessert at Burning Man; some will show up for Hackathons, Service Days, Habitat-for-Humanity Builds, rush off to map crises or jump into fires, but collaborate - think & plan & work together for mutual support & benefit - not so much. We're oh so much better at shouting slogans at each other - than at looking for ways we can work together to mutual benefit.

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I've been doing my damndest to recruit volunteers to organize local civic networks and community forums- to use platforms they already have to bring people together (the way WBUR in Boston has organized CitySpace as a venue for events & programs that bring people together. Or the Whole Earth Catalog & the WELL, back in the day. Or what MainVest tried to do as a crowdsourcing vehicle for main street businesses - until their bank failed).

I haven't been getting a lot of traction. I've got a bunch of followers on LinkedIn, a bunch of (mostly non-paying) subscribers to my blogs - but practically nobody speaks up - either to talk about what they're doing and seeking collaboration for, or even to ask folks to join with them to work on local pressing common problems. And all the media types who HAVE large audiences, are moving to Substack, spouting the same-old same-old, and inviting people to attend their lectures, webinars, have coffee with them, send them money - but offering nothing to help people work with each other. All talk, no action.

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It seems like the old line is true - you can lead folks to water, but you can't make them drink.