http://johncr8on.com/dispatches/can-social-media-bridge-enclaves/ Community Life and Public Leadership Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:28:44 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://johncr8on.com/dispatches/can-social-media-bridge-enclaves/comment-page-1/#comment-21 Brad Jolly Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:06:37 +0000 http://johncr8on.com/?p=165#comment-21 This is an interesting topic, and I think you have identified some real trends. Is it possible that there are countervailing trends that make it more likely one will encounter a person with a substantially different worldview than his own? I believe there are, and one example is globalization in the workplace. In the last dozen years or so, I have had the opportunity to work with people from Algeria, Japan, China, Singapore, Germany, Poland, Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Canada, France, England, Ireland, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Scotland, Taiwan, India, Mauritius, Sweden, Lebanon and Italy. I'm sure that I am forgetting many others. In many instances, the interactions were short-lived and functional - to get a specific job done and move on. In other cases, I have been fortunate enough to develop genuine friendships. Another example of the opportunity to experience ideas other than one's own is found on newspaper Web sites. Take a look at the Times-Call's Web site whenever a political issue is discussed. The comments are often angry, but it is clear that liberals and conservatives are reading each other's postings, even if only to gather ammunition to fire back. This is an interesting topic, and I think you have identified some real trends. Is it possible that there are countervailing trends that make it more likely one will encounter a person with a substantially different worldview than his own? I believe there are, and one example is globalization in the workplace. In the last dozen years or so, I have had the opportunity to work with people from Algeria, Japan, China, Singapore, Germany, Poland, Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Canada, France, England, Ireland, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Scotland, Taiwan, India, Mauritius, Sweden, Lebanon and Italy. I’m sure that I am forgetting many others. In many instances, the interactions were short-lived and functional – to get a specific job done and move on. In other cases, I have been fortunate enough to develop genuine friendships. Another example of the opportunity to experience ideas other than one’s own is found on newspaper Web sites. Take a look at the Times-Call’s Web site whenever a political issue is discussed. The comments are often angry, but it is clear that liberals and conservatives are reading each other’s postings, even if only to gather ammunition to fire back.

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