Listserving the people

Digital communication replacing the village green is such a cliché. But our neighbourhood listserv really proves the point. This is especially so for relative newbies to the area like us.

One learns all sorts of personal details about people in the neighbourhood from our local listserv, including their names and often their addresses too. One learns, for example, who has car trouble, whose child wants to take ballet lessons, who runs a landscaping design business, who needs eldercare for a relative, and who took down a big tree and subsequently offered free firewood for weeks on end. I recognize many names from the listserv by association (“her kids are the ones still chopping away at the tree carcass in their yard, providing free wood to any who want it”), but if I were queuing behind the majority of these people at a till in a nearby supermarket, I would not know them.

Our local digital community bulletin board is a remarkable resource for all in the area. Post a query to it and you are bound to get a host of responses. Need a pediatrician? A plumber? A piano teacher who is willing to come to your home? Write to the listserv asking for ideas and at least a handful of kindly neighbours will usually answer with suggestions about the best (or worst) dentist, electrician, or roofer, you name it. Digital word of mouth is so powerful. All who live in the area are able to sign up for this treasure trove of handy information. A volunteer system administrator facilitates access through referrals.

As in all human interaction, there is unstated etiquette to the listserv. The good-natured, patient manner with which repeat appeals are typically handled amazes me. Persistent requests include recommendations for pediatricians and house- cleaning or lawn-mowing services. It is incredible how often these come up—and how responses are repeatedly yet generously offered. Only once do I remember someone writing in and pointedly suggesting the archives be searched as that subject had come up too recently. The supply of and demand for childcare services also features regularly on the listserv. Helpers looking for additional hours are often from Central or Latin American countries, or they are high school or college-age children living in the area. Additionally, there are frequent anxious appeals for child minders when arrangements with sitters fall through.

There are also explicitly stated protocols. Our system administrator is strict about the listserv remaining nonpartisan and nonpolitical. A posting last year letting folk know about a D.C. march supporting gun violence prevention resulted in an admonishment. Likewise promotion of a particular candidate in a recent school board election elicited a strong rebuke. Our area reflects the partisan fracturing of U.S. society, so it is no doubt wise to keep more divisive issues from the listserv if it is to continue playing its constructive, helpful role for all. Certainly, there are many other channels for digital partisan politicking.

Everyone can agree though that child predators casing the neighbourhood are a problem. Not long ago, the listserv was awash with descriptions of strange incidents in random locations involving an older male behaving threateningly around children and young teens. His physical attributes and those of a possible partner, as well as the vehicle he/they were driving, were widely circulated, along with pleas for extra vigilance.

Another event resulting in a series of postings recently was when a child threw a water-filled balloon at a passing car. The first post was from a person connected to the car that the balloon struck. She requested all abstain from such conduct, especially as it could be unnerving for novice or elderly drivers. The next posting on the subject was a gracious mea culpa from the parents of the balloon thrower. They expressed regret at the incident, as well as noting their negligence in providing adequate supervision of the children playing with water. Subsequent entries complemented the parents for admitting their child’s role in the incident and acknowledging their own culpability. An awkward situation was thus handled and stylishly resolved—completely digitally—in front of the whole community.

A previous “digital confession” to the community is also noteworthy. This was the incident, described in a previous blog, where a neighbor accidently locked himself out of his own home and was then “caught” breaking in. The embarrassed neighbor explained to the listserv what had happened and then apologized for the disruptions and inconvenience due to all the police activity.

The listserv really does enhance people’s ability to look out for one another. It is useful for evaluating how widespread a power outage might be during their too-frequent occurrence due to bad storms. Thanks to the ubiquity of smart phones, even during power failures, one can quickly learn their extent and coordinate calls for technical assistance. The listserv is also a tool for obtaining assessments of driving conditions during severe weather. Folk working, say, in downtown Washington can write in after a storm to ask about area road conditions.

The listserv is so much more than finding a highly recommended local orthodontist, giving away outgrown children’s toys, or flogging no-longer-needed baseball mitts. It really does foster good neighbourliness. An entry from a couple of years ago that touched me was from the desperate mother of a two month old who screamed every time he ate. The empathetic, idea-laden responses from the community were quite moving. I have no doubt that one of the reactions, or a combination of them, resolved the situation for the mother and her baby. We never heard back from her to know.

The area listserv is an incredibly effective way to help one another in the digital age. It is a microcosm of the global village.