Post by Steven Dale
A couple weeks back we were doing some research and needed some numbers on ferries. Knowing we have a few readers from Seattle Transit Blog, we fired off an email asking one of their regular contributors for help — after all, Seattle has a massive fleet of ferries.
A couple emails back-and-forth over the course of an hour and we had the info we needed.
Then a week ago we had some transit-related questions regarding London, England. Similarly, we knew we had a few readers from London Reconnections so we fired off an email asking a couple of their contributors for help.
Sure enough, a couple emails back-and forth over the course of an hour and we had the info we needed.
We do the same thing. If people have a couple of questions about gondolas or cable transit, we happily answer as best we can — within reason, of course.
The point is this:
Over the last decade the internet has democratized the act of giving. Generosity of the sort I just described – of communication, community, information and research – would largely have been impossible in an era of long distance charges, fax machines, couriers, and overnight mail.
The business of city building is largely one of communication and community. Sure, it’s also the stuff of concrete, steel, and glass; but none of those ‘hard’ resources are required if you can’t first marshall the ‘soft’ resources of communication and community to develop your given project.
Fifteen years ago you had a reasonable excuse not to be generous with communication and community — after all, communication and community were expensive commodities. You couldn’t afford to give it away.
But nowadays that’s all changed.
Since you can find practically any information, or connect with multiple people who know the information, it makes sense to make friends, not enemies. You could hold on to your knowledge and your time. You could withhold communication, or give someone the run around, but then you’d have to be prepared for the same treatment next time you need that crucial information tidbit from someone across the world. Quid pro quo is now the order of the day.
You can’t shirk your obligation to be generous anymore. And that’s a good thing.
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