A.A. in Cyberspace - The Future

I see cyberspace continuing to evolve as an increasingly robust and user-friendly multi-media environment. It’s here to stay and we will continue to learn to use this colossus of communications to help alcoholics.

We will learn that there aren’t two forms of AA – face to face and online. There is one Alcoholics Anonymous and we will become united in our efforts to help alcoholics. This will not happen without pain and frustration. For example, I believe we need to protect our literature copyrights and make certain that, in so doing, we maintain the integrity of the AA message throughout our fellowship.

Most geographically-based service structures – will use cyberspace – just like my home area Southeastern New York (Area 49) is beginning to with its new web page – in order to provide area service and improve communications within the area community.

Facilitate Contact

In the arena of providing meeting information online, we will see both technology and determination cooperate to make meeting information available anywhere anytime; and to facilitate contact with another alcoholic anytime, anywhere.

For example, a trembling drunk – today we might call him “the man on the web” instead of “the man on the bed” – reaches out for help in cyberspace. How he does that – who cares! He does it. It’s happening today. It will continue to occur with greater frequency as more and more people have access to cyberspace.

His drinking is out of control – again. His life is miserable; his job is on the line. He wants help but he’s afraid to walk into a meeting.

Well, this drunk finds the Online Intergroup and then he finds a group like Lamplighters. We have a 12th step committee and we share with him. We share experience, strength and hope and we encourage him. And he becomes willing to talk to someone close to home. We might even have a member who lives there or we might arrange a 12th step call from his local AA Intergroup by communicating via cyberspace.

Reaching Out

In other words, it needn’t be “either cyberspace” or “face to face only.” I believe there is a tremendous opportunity for cooperation between cyberspace and the face to face world in practicing our 12th step.

I’d like to digress a moment to share a personal experience with the 12th step in cyberspace.

A young man living in New York reached out to Lamplighters in the winter of 1998. I was the 12th step contact since I live in New York. He was from Sweden and in New York as a post-doctoral student in Computer science. His drinking had escalated out of control and he had gotten into some trouble and was very, very sick.

His name was Kristofer (not his real name) and he wanted help. He was already computer literate and reaching out in cyberspace for him was easier than making a telephone call. He said he wouldn’t go to a regular meeting because of his language difficulty. It was really fear. The truth is that he felt more anonymous on the internet.

This was Thursday. I emailed a friend in Lamplighters who I knew was flying into New York to visit GSO on Friday and asked if he could pick up some Swedish literature. I told him I’d meet him in front of an AA group in lower Manhattan where we sometimes would meet when he came into town.

The Hand of A.A.

I then offered to meet with the young Swede at that location and promised that I would have some AA literature in Swedish. Kristofer wrote back that he was too scared to meet me and couldn’t commit.

I wrote and told him I’d be there anyway and described myself and said I’d wait and if he didn’t show up, then he could give me a mailing address and I’d mail him the literature.

Well, my Lamplighters friend, Jim, arrived and apologized for only being able to obtain a Swedish Big Book at GSO. Five minutes later Kristofer walked up to me and we shook hands and I handed him the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous in his mother tongue.

I invited him into the meeting for a cup of coffee. It was a cold night and he ventured into his first AA meeting. He remarked that we all looked pretty “normal.” Kristofer stayed for that meeting and a couple of days later had read the Big Book and wanted to meet again and talk about it. He had read the book thoroughly!

12th Step Work

Kristofer decided he was only a potential alcoholic and could probably drink a while longer and maybe even control it. I said “Go right ahead!” He was surprised I didn’t lecture him nor criticize his decision. I told him alcohol would be our best advocate and, besides, maybe he would be one of the lucky ones and learn to drink safely.

A year or so later Kristofer emailed me to say that his drinking had gone out of control again after he got a good job and moved back to Sweden. He said that he’d dug out “that book you gave me” and he and another drinking buddy were staying sober reading it together. He thanked me for helping him to understand.

To me, this is a wonderful example of how cyberspace and the face to face world of AA can combine to do 12th step work. I see great potential in the use of cyberspace to more effectively see that “whenever anyone, anywhere reaches out for help, the hand of Alcoholics Anonymous will be there.”