Online Community: Still Crazy After All These Years

Online Community:still crazy after all these years…
Nancy White Full Circle Associates http://www.fullcirc.com

Is “community” dead?
Irrelevant?
Over-used? Abused?
Spot-on?
When?Why?

“And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entranceway. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no.”

#1 Whatdo we reallyMEANbycommunity?

http://technologyforcommunities.com/

Tech + Social:Technology has fundamentally changed how we can be together

Go Solo?
Thinking, my tasks, exploring…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/4777491309/

Pairs, triads and very small groups?

Reciprocal Apprenticeship (Levy)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachstern/87431231/

Reciprocal Apprenticeship was a rare form of Jedi apprenticeship and has hardly been practiced since the Cleansing of the Nine Houses. This is where two Jedi were both Masters and Apprentices to each other. The most famous pair to be under Reciprocal Apprenticeship were Jedi Masters Kyle Katarn and Mara Jade Skywalker of the New Jedi Order.
http://misc.thefullwiki.org/Reciprocal_apprenticeship

Fly with the flock?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/odreiuqzide/3184901242/

Roam the network?

Personal identity, interest & trajectory
Me: the Individual
Bounded membership; group identity, shared interest, human centered
We: Communities
Boundaryless; fuzzy, intersecting interests, object centered sociality (Engeström)
Many: Networks

Consciousness, confidence level, risk tolerance, styles, emotion
Me: the Individual
Distinct power/trust dynamics, shared forward movement or strong blocking, bonding, stasis, attn. to maintenance, language
We: Communities
Flows around blocks, bridging, brokering, less cohesion, distributed power/trust, change
Many: Networks

My email, journals, email, portfolios, Facebook page, etc.
Me: the Individual
Meetings, confs., projects, wikis, group blogs, collaborative platforms…
We: Communities
Facebook, ELGG, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia,etc…
Many: Networks

enable people to…
discover & appropriate useful technology
be in and use communities & networks (people)
express theiridentity
find and create content
usefully participate
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stillthedudeabides/186852754/

facilitators
community leaders
technology stewards
network weavers
Independent thinkers
moderators

A Practice (practical) Example

… meetings
… projects
… open-ended conversation
… access to
expertise
… content publishing
Community activities oriented to …
… relationships
… individual
participation
… community
cultivation
… context
Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for communities
© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

Example:The Birdwatchers
of Central Park
Weekly bird walks, winter bird feeding fillings, irregular celebrations and events…
… meetings
Bump into another bird-watcher? Have a conversation…
… projects
Advocacy drives, adopt parts of the park, bird counts…
The “Register” (print) is central to community…
… access to
expertise
activities oriented to …
The participation of the “Big Guns,” and “Regulars.” Mostly F2F
Anyone can bird watch, but sharing what you see/know is important…so the community accommodates both
Note when people missing… Invite people in
… individual
participation
Internal and External focus: Publishing, the “Register,” available to media…
… relationships
… context
While everyone pays attention to the community, no centralized efforts…
… community
cultivation
Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for communities, © 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

Community Name: KM4Devglobal knowledge sharing network
Once a year and only about 10% do/can participate.
… meetings
Email list is core of community activity
… projects
When funding allows. E.G. supporting ShareFair
Community knowledge wiki, content management system to bring together resources.
… access to
expertise
Informally via the email list by asking/answering questions.
With only one meeting a year, large size and diversity, KM4Dev focuses on enabling individual participation.
Relationships mostly via meetings and core group.
… individual
participation
Strongly external – all resources public/shared.
… relationships
While everyone pays attention to the community, no centralized efforts…
… community
cultivation
… context

Birdwatchers and KM4Dev-ers
… meetings
… projects
… access to
expertise
… relationships
… individual
participation
… community
cultivation
… context

OrientationsPicking tools?How?
Meetings – Web meeting tools for online, shared calendars and wikis for planning, wikis, blogs, images/audio/video to capture and share during and after.
Projects – Email lists/forums to coordinate, shared calendars, project management trackers, blogs to journal/report.
Access to expertise – Online profiles, social networking sites, “yellow pages,” discussion forums, blogs.
Relationship – Twitter/IM to share small frequent messages, member directories, Skype/VoIp for conversation.
Context – Public, open websites for outward facing. Password protected for inward facing groups.
Community cultivation – Outward facing web sites to attract members, Twitter/IM to feel connected, Skype for voice.
Individual participation – RSS/aggregators, tagging, so people can craft what content they get, customizable settings on web tools, using synch and asynch
Content – content management systems, blogs, wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking, tags, video/audio, images, mindmapping.
Open ended conversation – email lists, forums, Twitter, chat.

Looking forward…

new fabric of connectivity
active technology landscapes
multiple engagement modes
reconfigured geographies
From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009
In collaboration with Nancy White and John Smith

new fabric of connectivity
- togetherness and separation
- always on
- virtual presence
- peripherality

active technology landscape
- interacting and publishing
- social/informational computing
- semantic web
- digital footprint

multiple engagement modes
- generalized self-expression
- mass collaboration
- creative re-appropriation
- thin connections/weak ties

reconfigured geographies
- competing spaces
- multimembership
- dynamic boundaries
- global reach

Epilogue
ContactNancy Whitenancyw at fullcirc dot com
http:www.fullcirc.com
www.technologyforcommunities.com
@NancyWhite
http://www.flickr.com/photos/poagao/527259905/

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Online Community: Still Crazy After All These Years

by Nancy White on Apr 19, 2011

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Online Community: Still Crazy After All These Years — Presentation Transcript