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PIPIPRIM
Page 12
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01111) The web allows you (010 to reach out and touch someone, declares L Radley, and that can only
■ be a good thing
"There's no camaraderie in this game any more." That's what they say. And on the surface, that appears to be true. After all, with the advent of n-cab electronics, people simply aren't bored enough to sit around in cafes and truckstops chewing the fat after a long shift these days. But mobile internet is suddenly a realistic proposition, and far more of us are online down the road, which may just bring things full circle.
The social networking phenomenon has finally reached the driving fraternity, and Facebook is no longer the sole preserve of our kids. Twitter may be the site of choice for the media and celebrities, but those of us stuck in tin boxes all week need something a little more, well, conversational.
Specialist sites such as TruckNet UK help to bring drivers from all over the country together, with smaller pockets of friends with similar interests forming, and we all like to get together on Facebook for an ongoing natter.
Throughout this recession, we've been keeping an eye on each other and our various ups and downs, as a measure of whether our companies are doing better or worse than most.
When we have a bad day, we post it up and are guaranteed a gratifying mixture of sympathy and banter in reply. If we're not sure of something, we can ask away and get an answer.
It's funny how these things creep up, really, but the extent to which we have all spun ourselves a web in this way was brought home to me recently when a well-loved member of TruckNet was involved in a serious accident. The news broke through a status update, and immediately messages of support started flooding in. Within a hour of it going up, there were 56 messages on that one thread alone.
OK, so maybe we don't physically sit in the same room, but we are still coming back together. CBs may be dying a death, but the internet gets you further out into the world anyway. And since we all have plenty of nondriving friends as well, the realities of being a driver and the challenges we face are touching people who might never have considered them before. That has to be a good thing, doesn't it?