If we do not, as communities, as a society, support this movement, we risk the further disappearance of local communities within globalized virtual collectives of alienated and entertained individuals. If you want to return to this quote in the front page of this review, feel free to click here. I find this much to be true in my experiences on-line. People who congregate around a geography of ideas rather than land, which is what the Internet invites, tend to sort through and enter into enclaves where people will generally agree with their point of view and assumptions. For example, one reason I join lists is to find people who like to discuss the same things I care about.
Some people join lists because there is no person locally they can discuss things with.
So there are good reasons for making use of the global, for establishing connections to people who aren't living locally. For example, on many of the lists I belong to, members will send a message which says something along the lines of Here at our university we are in the process of rethinking our writing program's structure. I've been asked by my department chair to learn what other programs have done. The global Net can be used to aid local projects. Indeed, Doheny-Farina's listing of local community networks and agencies which promote local access works along the same lines.