The importance of the past and relationships in social networks

Through the lens of the collective memory theory, this article examines issues of community integration, within the context of fostering a sense of affinity and connection in a network society. The author ponders the proportion of significance of the past on a macro- and micro-level. The main goal of the researcher is to display the role of a network in developing individual and collective identity, while focusing on the following problems: if the past plays such a vital role in processes of integration on a macro-level, does it play as crucial a role on the micro-level; does addressing the past develop or sustain itself within a network; can “network proclivity” in collective memory be considered an effective mechanism for developing attitudes. In other words, the significance (or lack thereof) of past experience (collective memory) is brought into question. This article presents certain mechanisms for integrating society by means of using reminders from the past. Also, based on analyzing polls which were conducted throughout the last twenty years, it is revealed how specific events in Poland’s recent history have played out in collective memory. The author presents interpretations, hypotheses, as well as arguments and counterarguments with regard to the connection between the network nature of social life and the development of various forms of connection to the past. The results of the study indicate that participation in a network has an insignificant effect on one’s interpretation of events from the recent past. Also highlighted is the fact that individuals who directly participated in certain events are the most trustworthy source of knowledge of the past. This confirms the hypothesis that modern networks do have an effect on choosing traditions, and therefore on their transformation on a macro-level.