• The paper “Public Perceptions of Local Influence” by Joshua Hochberg and Eitan Hersh found that most people can no longer name individuals who they think are influential in their community.
• This could be due to big companies muscling out small businesses, or it could be a sign of Americans becoming disengaged from their local communities.
• The idea of “community” has changed from being based on physical proximity to being based on identities, interests, and values.
• The internet has enabled the formation of vertical communities, which are groups of people united by identities, interests, and values rather than by physical proximity.
• Horizontal communities still exist, but they are often stifling and repressive.
• Vertical communities are thriving online, but they are not “network states” and are subordinate to horizontal communities.
• Public goods are still provided by horizontal organizations, but social interaction happens in the cloud.
• This dichotomy presents an enormous challenge to our institutions, as public goods are easier to provide when people have homogeneous preferences.
• Vertical communities could exacerbate divisions and make it difficult to provide public goods.
Published January 27, 2023
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