From your perspective on GVO, what does seem to encourage people to click through to bloggers in other countries? Maybe there are some patterns there that might offer clues about how to encourage people to expand beyond their homophilic comfort zone.

- Amy Gahran

I agree that expanding connections between people is a two-step process: First, building skills and infrastructure to support those networks. That part is easiest to accomplish with people with whom you already share characteristics and interests. The second step involves reaching out to people with whom you have less in common. That’s more challenging for a lot of reasons — and many folks are probably content not to bother with it.

There is an inherent problem of relying on technology and especially the net too much for making and sustaining these connections. Most people in the world don’t have the tools, the access, or the time. Hell, most people in the world don’t even have reliable electricity or fresh water. But they’re still people, they still matter — and they probably have very interesting things to say, given the opportunity.

My concern is that we’ve been leaning on the net too much, and we need to develop more skills to connect with more people, create a more diverse public and global conversation.

I’m not sure how to approach this — although I think GVO’s Rising Voices project is an intriguing start.

I guess I’m just getting a little concerned that we geeky folk are a little too insular, which could prevent us from achieving all the good we’re really capable of.

- Amy Gahran

But, I think something that’s missing from most discussions about homophily is the idea that there’s a two-step process going on here.

In one, people with common interests find each other online and flock together, starting blogs, building networks, creating community based on something other than geography. They’re creating horizontal bonds and meeting each other, hearing voices they never knew were out there, and discovering that they are not alone.

The second step is to branch out, find other communities of interest, extend the network based on serendipity. This is happening all day long through Twitter and Stumble Upon and even Digg, Delicious, and yes, the New York Times, which may be a salad bar without editorial guidance, but it’s the biggest salad bar around with some pretty nutritious stuff sitting in those little buckets.

So I’m not sure how to drive the second step without the first. I don’t see homophily as a danger, but more as a necessary piece of network-building. Because if I don’t have friends, how will I ever meet that friend of a friend who will open my mind to something new?