Connecting and Disconnecting to Connect

I'm really, really bad when it comes to privacy. If I'm in a room and people are talking then I feel I'm a part of their conversation, be it passive or active. Just because your not facing me, huddled close to one another and murmuring in hushed tones doesn't mean I won't chime in with an "I couldn't help but overhearing...".

Flickr photo by Dean Sharesk

And yes, this does get me in trouble occasionally. Often. Well, regularly.

I can't help it. I have a restless mind,  a trained ear and read postures well. And I am oh, so, curious.

Restaurants are the worst. I will zoom in on anyone in earshot and this drives Chris nuts. It drive everybody nuts. It disturbs me sometimes. Amazing what people will say in a public place.

But this morning I was listening on the radio to an interview with Katherine Brooks. A well known director and writer of reality TV shows and documentaries, she's got thousands of Facebook and Twitter fans still her life felt hollow, empty. It held little meaning. A few months ago she was spiraling into a bleak depression. On the radio she admitted at one point it had been more than a month since she had received a hug.

Where the #@&%! were her so called friends?

Face2Face cuts out the electronics and brings Ms. Brooks into the homes and lives of 50 Facebook friends for a day. A day to connect and be a part of someone else's life. She used the technology to make the first connection and is now disconnecting to connect personally.

Building online and using technology, even 2.0 tools that are supposed to connect more than reject collaboration and interaction, is no guarantee that an audience will be engaged and participate. And how can we give a hug or hold a hand across cyberspace?

If you have any ideas, please post them here. If you've been able to create an active community post a link to your site, Twitter and/or Facebook.