Are Google Hangouts the New Icecream Socials?

Recently I attended a YAL conference where one speaker heralded “google hangouts” as “the new ice-cream socials. As a Burkian conservative and lover of tradition, I could not help but cringe at the thought.
It is true that the idea of communities are an essential part of conservative thought. Conservatives from Burke to Kirk all agree “true communities” are necessary for any stable, flourishing society.
According to one of the most reliable sources around, the Internet, modern “communities” include the “hacker community,” the “meme community,” the “multicultural community,” the “vampire freaks community,” and even the “meet an inmate community.” Surely these abstract entities are not exactly the relational “communities” Burke and Nisbet had in mind.
From this list it appears that the classical meaning of “community” has morphed into a bare bones “hey we have one thing in common” community. In a time where the word “community” is bandied about in the news more than the word “bro” in a college frat boy’s daily discourse, it seems timely to revisit its classical meaning as expressed by Robert Nisbet.
“By community,” Nisbet writes, “I mean something that goes far beyond mere local community. The word . . . encompasses all forms of relationship which are characterized by a high degree of personal intimacy, emotional depth, moral commitment, social cohesion, and continuity in time.”
So does an online blog, a tumblr common interest group, or a hipster commune count as what Burke would call “the small platoons?” Probably not.
Nisbet’s definition involves the whole man: body and soul. A community is not some gnostic group based on ideas or traits people hundreds of miles apart may have in common. These communities often fail to integrate the whole nature of man and thus perpetuate this lostness and alienation Nisbet speaks of in his “Quest for Community.” True communities involve real presence as well as the sharing of ideas and interests. After all, someone can’t give you a hug or help find your lost school ID over twitter.
So how can we grow in community in this digital age? I guess since I’m writing on a blog I can’t conclude that all Internet communities are evil and futile. However, I do think so long as one does not fall for the internet’s artificial idea of a community, the Internet can be a helpful and necessary resource for enriching communication and ideas within a “true community.”