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Vertical communities - by Noah Smith - Noahpinion

noahpinion.substack.com · 2,308 words · saved by 1 readers

The internet has changed what "community" means.

“I’m a Hoosier, too,” she crowed. “Nobody has to be ashamed of being a Hoosier.” — Hazel Crosby, “Cat’s Cradle” An interesting paper is making the rounds. At first glance, the result of “Public perceptions of local influence”, by Joshua Hochberg and Eitan Hersh, seems pretty minor and innocuous — most people can no longer name individuals who they think are influential in their community. Back in the 1950s, most people would name local businesspeople. One reaction is: So what? Maybe big companies have just muscled out small businesses, so that now it doesn’t mean much to be a local…

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