Note: I screwed up. Someone told me that NPR’s “All Things Considered” ran a commentary of mine last night and I assumed it was on copyright. But I just found out that it was in fact one on the sociality of the Web. But, enough people have linked to the NPR commentary that didn’t run yet that I’m posting it here as an unofficial draft. The transcript below is of the one that did run last night. You can listen to it here.

I’m not a tremendously sociable fellow. Like a surprising number of people in my age and socioeconomic group, I don’t have a lot of friends I hang out with. I think — I hope — it’s just the nature of modern life.

But then I think about my email life. I spend a whole lot of time engaged in really stimulating conversations with strangers. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t get at least one email from someone I’ve never met — messages on interesting topics from people who, through the constant hand-off networking of the web, think I might be interested in what they’re interested in. I write back, the stranger responds, and this goes on for a couple of days. Then, typically, it peters out … and sometimes we bump into one another again on the Web..

The exchanges always have their own character. Some are sober and direct. Some are wordy and formal. Most are jokey, sarcastic, outright funny. In short, the messages sound like their authors, but use the near-universal web attitude of irreverence and humor to cushion the stating of beliefs that may be directly at odds with your reader. “Hey, man, it’s just a joke, it’s got a smiley face next to it.” Humor is becoming the format for intellectual content just as dry sobriety and rigor used to be.

The great thing is that this email arrives unasked for. Someone in the Netherlands, or Australia, or South Africa read some message I posted to a discussion board on the Web, the Web, or stumbled across my home page, or were referred by a friend or previous a correspondent.That’s the nature of the Web, a network that gets its value from people stumbling around.

And I start conversations all the time. I read about an interesting a couple of days ago, so I found out a little more about it on the Web, got the author’s email address, which she publishes, and I wrote to her to talk about an interset I think we share. An hour later, her reply was in my mailbox. A couple of exchanges and we’re allies whose paths may well cross again.

Today I heard from a stranger who thought I’d be interested in something called “pattern language.” He obviously cares about it a lot. So, he educated me briefly and gave me a perspective I might never have stumbled on. Two messages and it’s over. Maybe.

This morning, a guy came across my site and asked me to comment on his. I sent him a message critiquing but now I think he probably just wanted me to say “Cool site!” and share his enthusiasm. So, I think I made a mistake. I haven’t heard back from him. I have no idea whether he’s sulking, found my comments helpful, or now thinks I’m a moron. Maybe all three. That’s part of the conversation too.

What do I get out of this Clearly, stimulation. But it feels deeper than that. The world is coming unstuck in the very best of ways. We’ve lived under a rigid system for managing social contacts. The people you don’t know are strangers. You don’t speak unless spoken to. You stay formal until you get to know one another. Not any more. I sense a spiritual mandate to connect, a mandate so deep that it feels biological. We must find one another, now. We have to grip every hand that we see. This is the new evolution. We are building a world, we’re building the real web, the one that uses technology for connection the way our souls use our bodies for awareness. It’s just email. But it’s joyous.

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