Concerned Citizens Network Exposed

Since the February 9 public meeting organised funded and facilitated by a network of Launceston's “concerned citizens” it has become increasingly obvious that various groups, organisations and businesses find it difficult to relate to such a group – notably The Launceston City Council, The Examiner among them. 

There is this 19th cum 20th Century insistence that in order to be “real” such an entity needs to have a President, a Secretary, a Treasure and have a paid up membership –in fact ‘someone’ to congratulate or denigrate and vilify all too often. 

In reality there is nothing at all that is actually new about ‘social networks’ that lack these things. 

While such groupings may not be stand-alone ‘legal entities’, the reality of such networks is well enough understood by say "the business world" given its “Old Boys’ networks” and/or other business oriented informal networks. 

Rather than be hierarchical ‘top down’ groups with compliant memberships such groups/networks in the 21st Century are deliberately organic ‘bottom up’ entities with unranked memberships committed in various degrees to cooperate and collaborate in accord with and towards a shared set of goals.

The network that has come together in Launceston is indeed such a 21st Century network of networks with a convergence of concerns for a place’s – Launceston’s – wellbeing, future development, sustainability, etc. 

In a 21st Century context such networks are increasingly likely to evolve supported by the Internet, Social Media and other Cyber Networks. And, sometimes these networks will be multifaceted alliances that in other contexts might well include elements with possibly conflicting interests yet being in accord otherwise. 

It would be an exaggeration to claim that such networks are entirely due to such 21st Century cultural phenomena. Nonetheless, the claim that they are better facilitated in a 21st context than ever before is increasingly becoming much better understood. 

Indeed the science of the ‘networking phenomena’ is currently better understood in its 21st Century context than has ever been the case up to now. Interestingly, regional networks interface with global networks and visa versa.

In fact, in a 21st Century context we may well find these evolving networks outsourcing some of the functional elements of their ‘alliances’ to either organisations within the network, or even ‘operations’ outside it. 

The alliance of concerned citizens that has come together in Launceston is quite simply an example of a 21st Century citizenry looking at 21st Century issues and using 21st Century strategies and technologies to explore 21st Century opportunities in search of solutions to current and emerging problems and concerns – indeed 21st Century solutions. 

If hierarchical operational structures have difficulties with 21st Century networking, indeed networks of networks, it was ever likely to be so and so be it.