The SIG Is The New " Local".

Page Two, Newspaper Decline.
For good or for bad, the declining popularity of the newspaper is falling below it's critical mass of viability. Readership levels are dropping and so goes the rest of the business. Beware that there is a larger issue than the newspaper being an irrelevant media for the dynamic, interactive, interconnected "Generation X-Box" (thanks to John C. For that label). There is a fundamental reorganization of our social makeup underway. Because the next generation is interconnected and wired on a worldwide scale, the concept and current definition of "community" is now evolving. The idea of "Local" is no longer as important (or as relevant) as it was in the past. Physical location plays less of a factor to the makeup of one's community.

I remember around the late 1970s and early 80s as BBS's were starting to loose my ("local") interest , I started logging into my Compuserve Account and joining "Special Interest Groups", or "SIGs". The idea was simple: Using the latest technology, connect with people with whom you had similar interests. Communicate to people and open dialogs with those whom you would have never engaged in conversation due to the lack of physical proximity. AOL also had similar SIG manifestations in the 1990s.

The SIG today is more than a return of an old concept . It is one of the first clear signs of how social interaction will be rearranged on a fundamental level. SIGS have always existed in one form or another (clubs, groups, organizations,etc). Most organizations were challenged to remain viable if there was a lack of their common interest in a certain physical proximity. The internet makes this proximity issue irrelevant. Locality no longer a factor . The Specialized Interest has usurped the local interest in today's world. Get ready for the change. Generation X-Box already has and has embraced it.

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