We know more about what our friends have been doing via their social media posts than we do through a chance encounter down the street.

The virtual world has displaced much of our concrete existence so it’s no surprise the fallout is being felt in our institutions.

There is a feeling among organisations that they have to reach the great mass of the population through online engagement.

At the level of local government that has been most apparent in the last 12 months through the take-up of streaming –  the broadcasting of council meetings via the internet.

Albury, Wangaratta and Alpine are among the region’s councils which have adopted the approach as part of an effort to attract more interest in their activities.

Wodonga has been slower to embrace the technology.

Having rejected it earlier this year, councillors on Monday night voted to have meetings video-recorded and then uploaded, rather than broadcast live.

It is not exactly a bear-hug approach, but for a council that has been criticised for its lack of transparency it is a start and hopefully live streaming will be adopted eventually.

As councillors noted on Monday night it is particularly advantageous for shift workers, the elderly and disabled who may not be able to attend meetings.

Ron Mildren was the only Wodonga councillor to continue to oppose recordings, arguing the risks of legal action over comments made in the chamber remained too great.

But his point needs to be balanced by the fact councillors should be self-disciplined enough to know when they may be straying into defamatory territory.

Cr Kat Bennett cited the example of an Albury council meeting attracting 408 views online to support her enthusiasm for web broadcasts.

But it is worth recording the views for Albury council meetings over the past four months – July (51), August (50), September (44) and October (33) – have been declining.

On Monday, Albury Council axed its long-standing Saturday morning councillor sessions for citizens, after falling patronage.

The upshot appears to be that we don’t want to engage overly with councillors either in person or on screen.