I took part in an interesting conversation last week at a Department of State event called Celebrating our Caribbean Heritage. The session focused on using technology to organize Diasporas. It was part of a larger Department of State focus on working with Caribbean Diasporas, people who left their homes in the Caribbean and now live or have citizenship in the United States, to establish the kinds of public-private partnerships that can drive social and economic innovation.

I noticed what felt like a shared frustration among many of the participants. Young people spend too much time online. They stay inside and play video games, instead of going outside to play. They text each other at the dinner table. They are addicted to the technology.

This wasn’t just about young people: it was a fear that technology adoption and use will cause people and communities to lose each other and slowly fall apart.  This prospect can be an emotional one for organizations and nonprofits tasked with uniting people to solve problems in the country of their birth.

However, in the words of my fellow participant Dr. Raul Hinojosa, “technology isn’t an either-or. “ Mobile handsets and social media aren’t a replacement for in-person interaction. When used well, they enhance it and “strengthen cultural bonds more than ever.”

Dr. Hinojosa talked about using teleconferencing in some towns in Mexico to help people participate in the political process when they can’t go to meetings.  Tactics like these, he said, can meet the goals of real foreign policy by helping members of the Caribbean Diaspora connect to each other and facilitate innovation, and solve problems.

Katherine Kinzer, a program manager at International Youth Foundation, works with young people who have formed nonprofits or other organizations. International Youth Foundation uses real-world and online solutions to provide leadership training and access to resources.  Kinzer suggested that before organizations pick a tool or a platform to use, they should focus on developing a shared narrative and building relationships.

“Figure out what your piece of the story is and how it fits into the larger narrative,” Kinzer said. “How can we work together to share resources and reach others. The relationships are already there. How do you access them?”

This was the goal of last week’s event: be the spark that lights a thousand conversations in real world gathering places like the Department of State, around dinner tables, over text messages, and online. Then harness the power of those conversations in innovative and exciting new ways across the Caribbean and here in the United States. Count me in.