Technologies that build community.

There are communication and information technologies that inherently build community.  I think many community media ventures serve to build community but these are not necessarily technologies. 

I really think that the Internet, in its current unregulated form, creates community. 

One of the main uses of the Internet today is connection peer-to-peer for the sharing of information.  This new “public sphere” has revived information exchange for the middle and upper classes.  The problem with the Internet is that the lower class is not well represented.  Through community media programs, there are opportunities for poor and uneducated people to join the online discourse but there are financial barriers that these programs must overcome in order to continue operating and there are educational barriers to be overcome to facilitate the use of technology by the underprivileged. 

So, while community creation is easy on the net it is not equally accessible. 

I think the most useful Internet technology for creating community is the blog.  A blog allows for easy distribution of community information, access by all members in the community, coordination of live community events, community social interaction in a time-delayed online medium allowing everyone access regardless of work/school schedule.  This type of information repository and information distribution medium allows not only for textual announcements to be posted about community events but also for video of those events and it allows each community member to interact and participate.  With the busy schedules that most people have today, the ability to join in on community interactions at any time of the day allows more people to be a part of the community.  I think blogs could easily be used to facilitate community on the local level through discussion among community members and coordination of both online and offline events that where community members can meet in real time.