Understanding human needs will help you understand technology and media. With the all talk about social media, it is easy to lose sight of that simple truth.

At our very root, we are social creatures who have outrun our evolutionary competition by communicating and collaborating in small groups.  For almost all of our existence as a species, this collaboration has been constrained by time and distance.  With the advent of written language, moveable type, telecommunications, and now the internet we have seen fundamental shifts in how we, as humans, communicate and collaborate.

Our modern era (they’re all modern eras at one time or another, right?) is defined by instantaneous access to people and information.  While this can create more opportunities for becoming overwhelmed, it can also be your opportunity to connect, converse, and converge.

Let’s consider the great teachers throughout civilization.  Choose any prophet from any religion and you will see they followed this same general approach:

1. Connect their message to the masses through parables and stories 
2. Converse with their followers through debate and discussion
3. Converge with a select few disciples through deeply intense, intimate interactions

Visually, this approach would approximate the shape of a funnel, with each level of containing a smaller number of people than the level above it.  Because the deeper levels require more intensity, we can maintain fewer relationships the deeper they go.  Only a select few relationships will ever reach the deepest level - convergence.

It is an innate human desire to enjoy the sweetness of life that is contained in those intensely deep relationships.  In the space of those relationships, we converge with the other - often losing the boundaries between ourself and them.  The parent-child relationship.  The intense romantic relationship.  Lifelong friendships.  Highly creative partnerships.  And, yes - raving fans of a company or organization (think Apple or your favorite sports team).  

Our technology makes its easier for us to maintain a larger number of relationships at each level.  The key for each of us is to use these technologies to help us discern which relationships we want to take to a deeper level.  

Since my last post (The Live Wire Stays Connected), I have put great effort into reaching out to a wide variety of people I have met over the years to bring into my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter circles.  It is my intent to maintain and nurture these relationships in ways not possible before, so that I can enjoy the emotional and intellectual rewards each of these relationships bring.  

Earlier today, I read an excellent blog post by Josh Kopelman of FirstRound Capital that captures the essence of what I am describing.  It’s interesting in two ways.  First, it shares a story about how Facebook helped his family relay the news of difficulties they’ve been going through.  Second, he shares an intimate story of his life that might previously been shared with just a few people around him.  

So how are you using digital media to create more connections, conversations, and convergences? 

[Much thanks and appreciation to Brian Dixon, Founder and CEO of HomeStart Mortgage, for sharing his insights on spiritual convergence with me this week, which inspired the thoughts I have shared with you.] 

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 24th, 2008 at 9:51 pm and is filed under change, relationship, web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.