Although studies abound that purport to show that social isolation is growing and that the Internet may be to blame, don’t believe it. Here’s one reason why:

Last month I participated in a panel discussion on “Marketing Mediation Excellence”, which explored the impact of the internet on marketing. John DeBruyn, a transactional attorney based in Denver, served as moderator, and panelists included bloggers Robert Ambrogi, Gini Nelson, and Geoff Sharp, along with dispute resolution professional Louise Wildee.

What set this apart from other panel discussions I have participated in was that this one was held online. While some of us were in front of a real-world audience, the rest of us participated thanks to the miracle of digital technology, joining the discussion from across the U.S., or, in Geoff’s case, from the other side of the world in New Zealand. The same was true of many audience members.

What brought these panelists together? One word: Blogging.

Although I have made many contacts the old-fashioned way—through personal introductions, conference attendance, and committee work–nothing has connected me to the world around me faster or more dramatically than blogging has succeeded in doing.

Blogs bring people together like no conference or convention can. It allows for conversation in a multitude of ways.

Here’s one: Publish a post and instantly the whole world hears your message. But this is no one-way conversation–because most blogs permit reader comments, the world can talk back.

Here’s another: Another blogger reads your post. Intrigued by the viewpoint or links you shared, he or she riffs on what you’ve written and links back to you, amplifying the conversation. Suddenly your voice is joined by someone else’s. Other bloggers chime in and the chorus of voices grows.

Here’s another: Someone discovers your blog. One of your posts has sparked their imagination or triggered questions. They email you to tell you. Or they email you a link to an article they think you’d find interesting. Or they email you just to say hello.

With a little encouragement, these conversations can ultimately give rise to meaningful connections–to collegiality, to inspiration, to collaboration. These connections, as I have happily discovered, can produce discoveries, insights, and, most rewardingly, friendships.

Contrary to popular belief, blogging is not a solitary activity. It is joyfully, boldly public.

You can shout into the canyon and hear your own voice echo back.

But wait and shout again, and you will hear other voices rise in greeting.

The number of blogs catalogued by the World Directory of ADR Blogs has more than doubled since I launched it in June 2006, today listing more than 80 blogs representing 15 countries.

It originally listed nine blog categories:

General Alternative Dispute Resolution Blogs
ADR-Friendly Blogs
ADR Marketing Blogs
Arbitration Blogs
Conflict Resolution & Peace Blogs
Mediation Blogs
Negotiation Blogs
Online Dispute Resolution Blogs
Restorative Justice Blogs

To reflect the increasing variety of blogs that have joined the ADR conversation, I recently added two new categories: Video Blogs and Podcasts and Innovations in the Practice of Law.

“Video Blogs and Podcasts” of course needs no explanation. Listed there you will find:

Conflict Learning Audio (Bill Warters)
Mediation vBlog Project (Geoff Sharp)
Negotiating Tip of the Week (Josh Weiss)

“Innovations in the Practice of Law” are blogs published by those who are dedicated to pushing the boundaries on the traditional practice of law. These bloggers champion the human side of the law and seek innovative ways to deliver justice, serve clients, resolve disputes, or transform the future of legal practice. Typically these bloggers are mediators themselves, are advocates of ADR, or embrace other kinds of collaborative practices. In this category are:

Human Law (Justin Patten)
Idealawg (Stephanie West Allen)
Legal Sanity (Arnie Herz)
the [non]billable hour (Matt Homan)
SHLEP: The Self-Help Law ExPress (David Giacalone)
What About Clients (Dan Hull)

As always, if you wish to add your blog or someone else’s to the World Directory of ADR Blogs, please let me know. It’s a commercial-free site, and there is no cost to be listed. The Directory has information on submitting your blog and submission guidelines.

Technorati tags: alternative dispute resolution, blogging, mediation, mediation blogs, conflict resolution

A belated happy birthday to my friend Bob Ambrogi, who last Sunday celebrated four years of blogging excellence. Bob, an attorney and ADR professional, publishes LawSites, one of the legal field’s most prominent and deservedly well respected blogs.

Congratulations, Bob. Here’s to many more years of great blogging.

This is a web site you’ve got to see to believe–for a fee, you can arrange for an alibi or excuse for any occasion. From the web site:

We all encounter sensitive situations in our life. These may include family problems, social issues, work or financial difficulties. When you don’t want to involve your close friends and relatives for privacy reasons it is time to contact Alibi Network. Let us be your Privacy Partners.

Is it proof of humankind’s enormous capacity for deception, or evidence that people will go to any length (and expense) to avoid an argument? You decide.

Visit the Alibi Network to see for yourself.

In a joint study that may ultimately teach us much about the prejudices humans harbor regarding class and privilege, Harvard and Stanford psychologists have discovered that children as young as 5 prefer lucky people over the unlucky:

“Our experiments show the difficulties that confront youngsters as they make judgments of those touched by luck or misfortune… Young children express stronger liking for the beneficiaries of good luck compared to the victims of bad luck and generalize this preference to those who share membership in a group. Because the disadvantaged are more likely to experience negative events beyond their control - such as the tendency for the poor to be most impacted by natural disasters - this innocuous preference for the privileged may eventually grow more harmful, further increasing negativity toward the disadvantaged. Such preferences may, in turn, help explain the persistence of social inequality.”

(Via Boing Boing.)

Readers, please accept my apologies for the long silence.

A perfect storm of 16-hour-long work days, a severe cold simultaneously afflicting every member of my family including me, and a houseful of relatives on Thanksgiving combined to produce unfavorable blogging conditions.

In any event, it’s good to be back!