Online friendships are not so very different from the Mesopotamian brotherhood of kings, or the Kula ring of the Trobriand Islanders in the Southwest Pacific
I have so many thoughts about this! But I will practice brevity, I swear. (I'll try.)
I thought a lot about gift-giving and kinship among the indigenous Americans (all of both continents) while I was reading this. I think your specialty is Afro-Eurasia, whereas mine is mostly the Americas, with some Asia thrown in. Gift cultures were HUGE among the Americans, and I was pleased to see you mention potlatch as a result. That said, the indigenous Mexicans absolutely also practiced a great deal of gift (and daughter) exchange. I think this is something most cultures have, at one time or another, participated in. It's a very human thing to do.
Regarding online communities, I agree as well. I have dear friends whom I've never met in person, dear friends I met in person but mostly speak with online these days (my best friend from high school), and friends I met online who have become dear friends in person. Beyond that, as a US historian I know that penpal relationships were of critical importance to the colonists and for Americans all the way until the invention of the Internet. We have an enormous history of epistolary friendship and it would make for a great dissertation...not going there, heh. But yes, I have, as an Americanist, read any number of letters and diaries that discuss letters while researching various topics in US history, and our national archives are full of letters as well.
> "instead of LinkedIn or group chats, ancients used marriage ceremonies and diplomatic couriers"
I feel like with the examples in the latter, and ornate ceremonially-traded shell jewelry and lapis, etc. that was a way of making there be automatic stakes in the initial interaction with a person you've never seen before!
I have so many thoughts about this! But I will practice brevity, I swear. (I'll try.)
I thought a lot about gift-giving and kinship among the indigenous Americans (all of both continents) while I was reading this. I think your specialty is Afro-Eurasia, whereas mine is mostly the Americas, with some Asia thrown in. Gift cultures were HUGE among the Americans, and I was pleased to see you mention potlatch as a result. That said, the indigenous Mexicans absolutely also practiced a great deal of gift (and daughter) exchange. I think this is something most cultures have, at one time or another, participated in. It's a very human thing to do.
Regarding online communities, I agree as well. I have dear friends whom I've never met in person, dear friends I met in person but mostly speak with online these days (my best friend from high school), and friends I met online who have become dear friends in person. Beyond that, as a US historian I know that penpal relationships were of critical importance to the colonists and for Americans all the way until the invention of the Internet. We have an enormous history of epistolary friendship and it would make for a great dissertation...not going there, heh. But yes, I have, as an Americanist, read any number of letters and diaries that discuss letters while researching various topics in US history, and our national archives are full of letters as well.
This was a good essay.
> "instead of LinkedIn or group chats, ancients used marriage ceremonies and diplomatic couriers"
I feel like with the examples in the latter, and ornate ceremonially-traded shell jewelry and lapis, etc. that was a way of making there be automatic stakes in the initial interaction with a person you've never seen before!