If there was an award for most-overused term, I’m sure community would be a contender.
For future reference, here is one of the best definitions I’ve come across so far. It’s somewhat hidden in a blog post by Canada-based Myriam Laberge from a while back: Collaboration As A Living Emergent Co-Creative Process
A ‘community’ is created over time around shared purpose, language and meaning, and the development of shared values, reciprocity and mutual trust in the longer term from being and doing together.
Community doesn’t happen overnight. And it certainly doesn’t come out of the box with any online tool you might install.
An interesting relationship to point out is the one between community and participation. In my view:
- Participation often happens within or across existing communities
- Participation done right can have strong community-building effects
- Participation without the slightests levels of (a pre-existing) community fabric is difficult to imagine
- Especially for online participation, a lot of moderation and facilitation activities are often required that are commonly referred to as community management
Myriam will be in San Diego for the 2009 IAP2 annual conference next week, and I hope to get a chance to talk to her in more detail about this important interrelation.
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