I think the best use of social networking is to share how we're all coping with trying economic times. For instance, we turned mandatory state furloughs here into "Furlough Friday" potlucks, minimizing the cost of getting together and still having fun. Now that will be changed to "Floating Free day" (how untethered does THAT sound??)
We can also use blogs and social networks to teach each other how to garden or cook or any other useful skill. We can also share events, resources, transportation - almost anything. Recently I was able to connect a man who had been recently widowed and a former-realtor housekeeper to their mutual benefit. He was finding housekeeping a huge chore, she isn't wild about spending spare cash for advertising.
Although I'm not into sharing happy talk just for the sake of dispelling the notion the economy is getting better (I had enough of that dreck as we were sliding down into this hole!), I do look at this as an opportunity for people to get past being passive consumers and do things for themselves. There's really nothing like that feeling of "I don't need to rely on someone else to make or modify this - I can do it if I need to!"
Source(s):
Experience

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