The Catalyst: The Report That Everyone Is Talking About
A series exploring AI vs Human Connection
23 times. That’s how many times I saw, within my first few hours of research, the Surgeon General’s Advisory Report on loneliness referenced in the articles I was reading on AI vs Human Connection. I know I’ve only read a small fraction of all the literature out there on this topic, but there’s clearly something that activated in MANY people when this report was released in May 2023. Also, I lost track of how many times I’ve heard it referenced in podcast episodes.
My reaction: Before I even read the report in its entirety last year, I saw highlights, and I felt immediate validation. “The Surgeon General is validating my work!” For weeks, I held my head a little higher, thinking that my career path as an online community strategist was going to significantly impact the health of mankind.
This particular paragraph felt like a rallying cry, and I was ready to answer the call: “We are called to build a movement to mend the social fabric of our nation. It will take all of us—individuals and families, schools and workplaces, health care and public health systems, technology companies, governments, faith organizations, and communities—working together to destigmatize loneliness and change our cultural and policy response to it. It will require reimagining the structures, policies, and programs that shape a community to best support the development of healthy relationships.”
Now, I can more clearly see how this information benefits efforts to increase human connection, but I have some questions as to what, if anything, this report does for the profession of online community management.
While there’s mention of technology as a factor that can both help and hurt loneliness and isolation, we have to remember that this Report did not focus on online communities, and in fact, doesn’t even mention them outright. Instead, it speaks more to the principle of Community, and the benefit it can bring to our lives. The Report doesn’t even provide a specific definition for how it uses the word “community.”
I also found it interesting that the word “connection,” or some form of the word, is listed 416 times in the report. What’s even more interesting is that there is no standard definition provided for the word, however, there IS a definition provided for the phrase “social connection.” The report says that a social connection is “A continuum of the size and diversity of one’s social network and roles, the functions these relationships serve, and their positive or negative qualities.”
I couldn’t help but wonder: do community professionals consider the connections made in B2B communities to be “social connections?” Do the community members view them that way? Or are interactions on B2B communities thought of more as part of the job? 🤔
Other random thoughts:
After this Report came out, did anyone in our professional make any changes to their online communities based on this info? Please, do share!
“The fate of loneliness among young adults has increased every year between 1976 and 2019.” Why is that? We can’t blame it all on social media since this has been happening since the 70s, but unfortunately, the Report doesn’t into the why behind this.
In our work, we only cater to those who own or have access to a computer, smartphone, or tablet, not to mention Internet access. We shouldn’t forget that it’s a privilege to be able to afford these things, and therefore, there are MANY people out there who aren’t experiencing online communities in any capacity.
There’s a dotted line from this Report to the outcomes we work to achieve in Community Management. I think it’s worth reading for anyone in our line of work. I know this was a bit of a brain dump, but I had to dedicate some space to sharing thoughts on the Report since it seems to be mentioned EVERYWHERE now. Thanks for following along!
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Thanks for raising this topic, Jenny! While I have not deeply read the entire document, I was drawn to the six pillars to advance social connection and feel that we, as community professionals, can have an impact on three of them: reforming digital environments, deepening our knowledge, and building a culture of connection.