Technology and Technological Communities

Much has been said about technology and its effects on modern civilization, often from a negative perspective: how dating moved from cafés to Tinder, leaving coffee shops empty, or how we now prefer ordering food through apps instead of going out to restaurants. However, I would like to propose an alternative narrative about the relationship between technology and society.

First, it is important to remember that living in society is an evolutionary necessity. Sociologist Émile Durkheim, for example, devoted much of his work to explaining how bonds of solidarity among individuals give rise to and sustain societies. If we understand this as a natural phenomenon, and acknowledge the inherent human desire to connect with others, we can affirm that technology cannot prevent communities from forming. On the contrary, I argue that technology enables the creation of new types of communities, different from those we once knew.

A clear example of this is fandoms: communities—often spread across continents—that come together around a shared passion for a TV series, a singer, an artist, or activities such as cosplay, writing, or reading. From any sociological perspective, these fandoms are genuine communities, with their own norms, behaviors, and values. (For example, no Swiftie anywhere in the world would voluntarily listen to Kanye West.)

This phenomenon does not merely survive because of technology—it exists because of it. Listening to K-Pop in Bogotá without ever having been to Korea allows people to connect with diverse cultures and communities, just as someone can feel part of the Real Madrid fan community without having visited Spain, or love vallenato music without ever traveling to Colombia’s Caribbean coast.

In the political sphere, one could argue that the victories of causes such as the legalization of abortion are, to a large extent, the result of organized digital communities—what we might metaphorically call fandoms of public advocacy. I do not use the term in a derogatory sense or to minimize feminism, but rather to highlight the capacity of these international technological communities to achieve legislative victories in more than sixty countries by sharing philosophy, materials, and strategies for collective action.

We live surrounded by these technological communities, which continue to gain strength. In a globalized world where borders are far less restrictive than they were twenty or thirty years ago, this represents an opportunity rather than a risk. Instead of maintaining a passive attitude toward technology, the State should adopt a proactive role and adapt to this new reality. Only then will the idea of community not dissolve but instead become stronger than ever in the twenty-first century.