Washington Post / USA Today

USA Today ponders the state of civic participation in America in a 6/1 front page article "Beyond Kiwanis: Internet builds new communities" and calls attention to Meetup.com as a trend setter in building community.

Robert MacMillan of The Washington Post sums it up in his article "Wired New World" as such:

"Technology, [USA Today] suggests, might be repaving the road to civic engagement as more people discover that e-mail, Blackberries and other means of constant communication are filling in potholes such as 18-hour-a-day jobs and other professional commitments. Some experts say these disembodied communications are replacing old-timey Elk and Kiwanis clubs, Moose lodges, Rotaries and other artifacts of social involvement. It's a trend, USA Today said, that grew with public gathering sites like Meetup.com . . ."