23 Mobile Things: Thing 17 (Connecting to Community)

Community-specific apps are a great way to convey relevant (and, hopefully, timely) information with people in a particular shared locale or with a particular shared interest. A philosophical question could be raised about whether these apps are helping us reach out to new people or making us more insulated and isolated. For example, I am a Minnesota Public Radio [MPR] listener, supporter, and sustaining member, and, yes, I have the Minnesota Public Radio app on my quickly-becoming-outdated iPhone 4. The MPR app offers timely news stories, focusing especially on the Twin Cities area and the entire Minnesota geographic region. However, an app like this might only appeal to regular MPR listeners. There is a stereotype about public radio listeners, and I will go so far as to say that I am a stereotypical Minnesota Public Radio listener, supporter, and sustaining member in that I am college-educated*, solidly middle-class-to-wealthy**, philanthropic***, politically left-of-center****, and lacking cultural/ethnic/racial diversity*****. The MPR app doesn't allow for direct connections (like commenting on articles or participating in a wider civic conversation, which we can pretend happens in the comments section of news articles), so this app cannot help me connect more with fellow community members who are interested in news and current events and an eclectic array of music or to have conversations with fellow community members. The MPR app also allows one to pick and choose stories to listen to and save; I have mixed feelings about this ability to cherry-pick the stories we hear and pay attention to. Do we miss out by having this option, and can we claim to be participating beyond this specific community in general society if we only pay attention to the stories we want to?

*Which means nothing to a lot of smart, hardworking people who aren't, including members of my own family who thought me going back to college to get my master's degree was some kind of remedial thing.
**Yes, my renting situation is bleak and my cat's grocery budget is larger than my own, but, all things considered, I am privileged and live very comfortably.
***Member drives and educational causes.
****President Obama is not a socialist; I should know, because I am a democratic socialist.
*****And love Tell Me More -- you know, NPR, I was told I can quit my membership at any time.