In Bowling Alone, sociologist Robert Putnam documents the sharp decline in nearly every facet of American community life in the second half of the twentieth century, from neighborhood poker nights to church cookouts to club memberships. Americans simply stopped being together. Consequently, our trust and care for one another declined. We stopped leaving our doors unlocked at night, started rolling through stop signs, and cut back our tithing. In ways imperceptible and undeniable, our focus turned away from our neighbors and inward toward ourselves. Notably, Putnam ends the book on a hopeful note. Perhaps, he suggests, the adolescent Internet will reinvigorate our communal life by connecting us in new ways.
It seems rather not.
