Fifteen years ago, Robert Putnam, a Peter and Isabel Malkin professor of public policy at Harvard University, coined the term "bowling alone” in an essay of the same title. The term spotlighted an alarming trend: Society was rapidly growing apart. Americans were withdrawing from their communities. Instead of having friends, people watched "Friends” on TV. The family dinner was an endangered tradition. Fewer people attended public meetings, and instead of bowling in leagues, people were bowling alone.

"Bowling Alone” was later expanded into a book, and it, along with a 2001 Harvard report, "Better Together,” argued that America could (and should) create more "social capital” by socializing more, creating more groups and volunteering more.

"It’s sort of disjunctive, but I do think that there is that yearning people have for collectivity,” said Kole Kleeman, professor of mass media at University of Central Oklahoma. "It’s disjunctive because I think with social media, you ‘tele-cocoon’ with others. You cut yourself off from the outside world.”

And yet, social spaces such as Scissortail Social Space in the Paseo District, food co-ops such as the Oklahoma Food Cooperative, community-supported agriculture (CSAs), community gardens and collaborative office spaces such as the Oklahoma City Coworking Collaborative (CoCo) are cropping up all over the country. People are coming together for a common cause whether it’s eating locally, fostering a sense of community or networking with like-minded people either in a social or professional setting.

Is the trend of "tele-cocooning” behind computer screens, via Bluetooth ear pieces and text messages, changing?

"I think that the essence of humanity, and I’m really kind of waxing philosophical here, is relationship,” Kleeman said. "The only way we can truly develop relationships with people is in the context of face-to-face communication.”

The Oklahoma CoCo, 723 N Hudson, is an example of this burgeoning yearning for community. It’s an office space where you can rent a desk or a full office for a day, a week or indefinitely.

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