The finest social objects in the Buddhist web

The dramatic growth of online social networks  in the last five years such as Facebook and Twitter has led to social network theory – hitherto mainly the domain of fusty social anthropologists – to be of central interest to a new geeky generation.

So whether you’re in a start-up trying to launch the next big thing or perhaps just an little looker-on like me – exploring how networks form, why they form, and what happens when that connectivity is turned to action has never been more popular.  Nor indeed more important.

In my own exploration of this subject, it’s the concept of social objects that I have found most interesting.  And cutting to the chase and avoiding any network theory wanky-ness – a social object is the reason that two people speak to each other.

Traditionally social objects have been location-based such as the pub or the post office, but now of course communities can  now connect through digital objects; and it’s my opinion that the best Dhamma-related  social objects bar none are the weekly podcasts produced by Buddhist Geeks.

As a 29 year old practitioner, I have tremendous gratitude for Buddhist Geeks.  Yes, the podcasts are excellent in their own right, but the real magic happens when you engage through the conversations and communities that sit around them – of which this blog is certainly one.

A couple of small examples:

• Just a couple of days ago I had the extraordinary pleasure of meeting up for a drink with Alan Chapman – whom I had only heard of through his Buddhist Geeks podcast.  Now settling back in London he plans to set up a new group to share his understanding of awakening – a super-exciting idea which I look forward to being a part of.
• And the other way around…Martin Aylward is one of my favourite teachers who has been working with the sitting group that I co-host.  He has recently recorded a BGeeks interview which means that his fresh take on urban practice and freestyle awakening can be shared with a wider audience – good news indeed.

And most amazing of all, Vince Horn et al have been producing such high quality work with very limited resources.  Now that they have demonstrated their position at the heart of a distributed sangha they are rightly looking to grow their ambition and move into producing a regular digital magazine and a ground-breaking annual conference.

But to do so they need our further support and are inviting us to join them as investors and patrons.  The good news is that they have already gathered hundreds of supporters but they need we need that little bit more to take them to the level.  The level that matches their refreshing ambition.

So if you’ve gained value from their work… why not?

…are you?!