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"these long distance connections also provide an unparalleled ability for ideas to cross pollenate - something vital to living in the present rather than the past."

that is one of very few things i see as a positive about long distance, digital communication.

being largely utilitarian, i see the internet, like phone and snail mail, as nothing more than tools for communication, to be used when it makes sense.

particularly for anarchists, or anybody desiring to act in ways that are considered illegal (or even just undesirable) by those in power, when communication is involved, trust is a huge issue. gaining the trust of another individual, without face to face interaction, is next to impossible, at least for me.

so for me, using these mediated communication tools is fine and dandy when it makes sense. with the understanding that ANY such communication is at risk of being observed by others. but if all or most of the people that i considered "allies" were folks i had only ever communicated with via those tools, i would seriously rethink my life. because...

a) i could never really (deeply) trust someone i have never had interactions with in real life.

b) although i am largely an introverted loner, i do desire relations in my life, and those relations could never be fully realized if limited solely to mediated communications.

generally speaking, i think there is a massive generation gap - not just among self described anarchists - that manifests related to the ever increasing incursion of technological tools and techniques into everyone's lives. as someone that remembers a world without cellphones and the internet, when i see how these newer tools have been entrenched in the lives of those that know of no existence without them, it makes me sad. i feel like lived experience is being replaced by virtually lived experience, and it is largely being welcomed.

i'm ready for all the "ok boomer!" comments, have at it.