Comments on: Community or Not Community? Part II

By: Swindleeeee!!!!! » What is eMusic’s Free Prize?

Swindleeeee!!!!! » What is eMusic’s Free Prize? — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 09:34:56 +0000

[...] What I find interesting about community in the context of eMusic is that it appears to have been unplanned on the part of eMusic management, who at some point decided to implement a message board feature and then for the most part left the kids alone to play by themselves. In general I think this is all to the good. eMusic has some community features (neighbors, user-contributed reviews and ratings, user-published lists, and so on), and could do much better in terms of implementing ways for eMusic subscribers to connect with one another and add value to the service. However as Tara Hunt has noted we shouldn’t confuse the communities people build together with the communities that corporations want to build for them: Community … isn’t meant to be a marketing tool. [...]

By: Nomadic Learner - » Defining Community: An Online Facilitation Group Discussion

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:53:35 +0000

[...] Community or Not Community? Part II [...]

By: Lee LeFever

Lee LeFever — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 17:38:42 +0000

“Community” is hard to define because it means different things to different people. It exists when the members feel that it exists. In this way, it is like the word “party” – everyone has a different perspective on how they define one.
Me? I’ve realized that when businesses talk about community, they often mean social. Instead of trying to outline the difference, I reframe it as the means vs. the end. Social software is a means to enabling or serving a community. Members may connect to a community or they may not and success doesn’t have to hinge on whether or not community exists. Success should relate to what goes the organization is trying to accomplish – and how social tools can contribute.

By: Mario

Mario — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 16:47:24 +0000

community = 1 / personality * age

By: Jake McKee

Jake McKee — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 23:41:54 +0000

OK, last time I’ll pipe in, I swear.

1. I agree, but there’s context to my comment that the quote you pull out overlooks.

2. Gotcha, just making sure. And yes, of course… a small group of people who regularly meet around a shared purpose is unquestioningly “community”.

3. Of course. I don’t think I spoke my point very well – the point was the same as what you were saying – that a tool isn’t a community, yet for most people the distinction you were commenting on between tool and community doesn’t exist.

OK, I’m all done now. Sorry to yammer on.

PS: Looking forward to seeing you next weekend at Stanford! First round is on me

By: Bright Meadow » Sunday Roast: that’s the way this world keeps working

Bright Meadow » Sunday Roast: that’s the way this world keeps working — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 16:05:53 +0000

[...] Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a community… or not. I like Tara’s point that a conversation or even a series of relationships doesn’t make a community. I’m starting to dip my toe very tentatively back into ‘communities’ or ‘groups of like minded people chatting down the virtual pub’ and I’m not sure of the need to try and find a clear definition of what a ‘community’ is as opposed to a ’social network’ and so on. It gives a convenient handle upon which things can build. Then again… Oh, excuse me whilst I go, sit down, and think about this for six months or so [...]

By: miss rogue

miss rogue — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 04:16:12 +0000

Hey Jake…a couple of responses:

1. You said: “Generally, I think what makes up a “community” is the individual emotional reaction.”

That’s not really a community…that’s an emotional reaction. It’s a stretch to think that everytime someone gets emotional, a community is formed.

2. RE: BarCamp

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about the ACTUAL day a BarCamp takes place. That ain’t community. It’s an event. I don’t know if you’ve seen, but we talk…daily. On Skype, Adium, in Google Groups…we visit one another in one another’s home cities. Blake Burris and his wife are coming to stay with us next week (he’s BarCamp Dallas). We meet up online and offline regularly and talk about what BarCamp means, how we can improve it, how we can spread the word, new BarCamps popping up around the world, etc. The community actually has very little to do with the event, itself.

3. You said: “These people think of this tool as their community, no?”

I don’t think many people think of any tool as a community. I would think it is a tool used to connect with their community. A tool in itself isn’t a community.

By: miss rogue

miss rogue — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 04:09:03 +0000

This is also why I tend to agree with your posts on communities: Flickr, MySpace are not the communities per se. They are to be mere services providers which address, empower, enable communities out there to achieve their goals.

BINGO!

By: Jake McKee

Jake McKee — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 03:55:07 +0000

I dunno…

Fundamentally, I agree with nearly all of what you’re saying. I love my career because I believe it’s my job to help refocus the organizations on that “higher purpose”. That’s a good thing for the company, financially and emotionally (and yes, companies have an “emotional core”, so to speak). Let’s not kid ourselves that the point of this refocus is a financial one.

You’re right, of course – communities, like Cluetrain isn’t a marketing tool *in and of itself*. But it’s most certainly a *business* tool, at least when used right. Heck, Cluetrain was a manifesto meant to bring about change in the way business was transacted, not a manifesto meant to squash business.

Generally, I think what makes up a “community” is the individual emotional reaction. For example, you say that BarCamp is a community. Perhaps it’s closer to a community than a traditional conference, but in my own mind it’s not really a “community”… it’s an “extended” conversation (referring to your point above about conversations aren’t community). You personally may not use MySpace as a way to connect regularly to friends and use it as something more than a “network”, but plenty of people are using it to meet others virtual, stay connected to them daily, then even meet up with them in person. Look at the content of some regularly updated profiles. These people think of this tool as their community, no? Personally, I don’t use Flickr as a community, yet there are tons of people who would very much consider it to be their community of choice. And don’t get me started on Twitter. Personally I don’t get the point, much less how people actually feel “connected” to others through it, but they do. Go figure.

Maybe I’m still missing the nut of larger point you’re arguing recently?

By: Jean-Paul de Vooght

Jean-Paul de Vooght — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 00:09:47 +0000

There are a number of small mobile ASPs offering services such as sending an picture to phone. One interesting application I saw of this service was developed by a soccer club which attracts every sunday its own community of fans for a game. After the game, photos are published on the site. With the help of such an mobile ASP, the web master added a feature which let the community customize their phone background picture with neat clippings from their favorite players.

We like to talk of “mobilizing” communities. The soccer fans “re-connect” in the pub using their re-skinned mobile phones…

This is also why I tend to agree with your posts on communities: Flickr, MySpace are not the communities per se. They are to be mere services providers which address, empower, enable communities out there to achieve their goals. The mobile ASP is not the community (I didn’t provide any flashy name on purpuse), it is merely a service provider.

Perhaps a neat demonstration for MySpace would be to find a similar story showing how the “ASP” has helped an XYZ community (in FirstLife?) achieve a Higher Purpose.