Steve Rubel offersa heartfelt post on Micropersuasion today. He and his bride Lisa received a gift basket from a pair of his readers. He was, appropriately, moved.

The act of kindness by Steve’s readers reminded me of an experience I had before blogs. In fact, it was before the Web. Back around 1990 or 91, I was a regular participant in the communities on the WELL, one of the earliest online communities. In one of the communities, a regular participant (I don’t even remember his name) announced one night that his young son (Gabe; I do remember that) had been diagnosed with leukemia. The outpouring of support was amazing. People who had never met the family offered everything from advice (doctors and nurses contributed) to meals. He reported daily on Gabe’s progress, and the community responded with encouragement, sympathy and virtual hugs.

Then, one day, he announced that Gabe was in remission. The community took up a collection and sent the family to Hawaii to celebrate. Only a handful of the hundreds who had participated in this experience ever had a face-to-face encounter with the family, but everyone wrote a check. Including me, and I rarely posted anything, since I came into the community after it had already solidified.

Say what you will about the online world. The notion of community is a real one, and it’s one of the most powerful—and underutilized—aspects of the Net.