by Mike Talon

When I was asked to write a position piece on the differences and similarities between online and real-life clubs, especially bear clubs, I had to really sit down and think about this one. Because of my close ties to the Internet and technology communities, I�ve had the privilege of helping to create some of our online society, and I�ve always had an interest and memberships in real-world social organizations; but I�ve never really thought about how they relate to each other and how one would go about deciding if one was better than the other.

Of course, if you don�t own or rarely us a computer, the likelihood of this being a major topic of conversation is little to none. The same could be said for those who really don�t like to socialize, but rather keep in touch via e-mail and online services. For the rest of us, the idea of community has significantly changed over the last several years.

Prior to around 1995 or 1996, the idea of an online community was reserved for the geek chic set, those who already had home computers and knew how to access electronic bulletin board systems (BBS�s). For the rest of us (although technically I guess I was on the bleeding edge back then too), real-world socialization was the only type available and so clubs like the New York MetroBears were born. These physical clubs gave us a chance to meet new people, gather in different places for the exchange of ideas (among other things) and generally expand our little worlds to include more ideas, thoughts and people. Physical clubs like this had their drawbacks. One had to arrange time in a schedule to attend the meetings and events, and travel could become an issue at some points. Also, there was no way to filter out interaction with those who we�d rather not associate with just because they were part of the same club we were. Essentially you either accepted everyone at the party or spent most of the night ducking one person or another.

Then the advent of the Internet age brought us the online club�a place where different people could still exchange ideas and opinions, but without the ability to physically see and converse with each other through speech. Everything is exchanged electronically through e-mail or messages left at a common website. Now one could easily work this pseudo-social activity into their own schedule, checking and sending messages whenever they had time. Since your computer was located near you, no travel was necessary, and you could easily ignore messages from those who you�d rather not talk to.

I don�t think that we�ve actually lost anything with the advent of this new form of club, but rather just the opposite. Now people separated by physical distance need not worry about losing touch with friends they have met in the real world at club meetings and events. We can also keep up to date with those events and share invitations to personal affairs as well. Utilizing virtual clubs as an extension of their real-world counterparts is a wonderful way to enhance and expand the goals of the organization and enrich the lives of its members.

However, we must be careful not to let ourselves become so engrossed in the technology that we forget about the physical components of belonging to an organization. No man is an island, and there is definitely something more to a conversation held face to face as opposed to online or even via telephone. Body language, nuance and other keys and signals simply cannot be replicated online or by voice alone. How often have we all misinterpreted the meaning of an e-mail because we�ve placed the emphasis on just the wrong word or phrase?

We�ve also got to be aware that working with others solely in an online environment can actually begin to eat away at our social skills after time. Lack of human contact is generally not a good idea over long periods of time if it can be avoided. After all, how can we learn social skills without being exposed to society? How can we begin to understand or enhance our understanding of the complexities of politics, social issues or conflict resolution if we never expose ourselves to differing opinions or persons we�d prefer not to listen to if given the choice?

So, in the end, online clubs are indeed a great idea and wonderful extension of physical meetings by organizations�bear or otherwise, however, I don�t think they�ll be able to take the place of real-world clubs for the simple reason that we�as humans�just need to stay connected to the physical world. There isn�t a digital structure in existence that can ever replace a bear hug, and I doubt that there will ever be.