Social interactions, common interest and sense of neighborhood are concepts that we’re slowly loosing because of the development of digital technologies. All of us have got less and less time to talk face-to-face with friends or to have a word with our neighbor.
But technology is not the millennium absolute evil. It’s a tool that allows to amplify human possibilities in every context or situation, but man is using it in the worst possible way. Take the example of Facebook, the social network that reinvented communication in the last few years: some people use it in playful moments, others made of it a daily source of information and others again exploit it for taking advantage of advertising campaigns.
But there is someone who has used it to integrate whole urban areas: this is the case of Federico Bastiani and his wife Laurell Boyers that in 2013 created a Facebook group called “Residenti in via Fondazza – Bologna”, where all the inhabitants of this street could share and really discover the concept of “socialization”. The success was sensational: in the first few days there were only a few registrants but with the passing of time they have increased and today are more than 1200.
Today there is also a website where everyone can find out information about this project and understand the philosophy that is at the root of all. Thanks to the website it’s possible to create also other social streets.
And so, a Bolognese district rediscovered itself more little but more likely to socialize: street parties, collective projects, and above all the will to stay together and share experiences. Even today a lot of inhabitants organize dates through Facebook.
A project to be proud of and from which to draw a lesson: this model should be endorsed in various parts of our country.
The degradation of social relationships is the leading cause of the problems that we are facing every day. A world that doesn’t talk is a world that doesn’t share and therefore is a world that doesn’t care of the needs of each other.
Technology is an excellent tool for sharing and revaluating human relations. Innovation that strengthen tradition.
