This document discusses different types of online communities and their defining characteristics. It identifies six main categories of communities: communities of practice focused on shared professional skills; communities of interest for sharing information on a common topic; communities of purpose for accomplishing specific tasks; communities of inquiry for collaborative problem solving; communities of inspiration focused on discovery; and communities of innovators seeking to drive new ideas and reforms. Each community type is defined by its purpose and incentives for participation, with examples given of existing communities that fall into each category.

1. Design in
Policy
What kind of community?

2. • Communities can have informal or
formal membership
• Strong ties are created by the interplay
of various incentives
• Communities can be open, closed or
distributed
• Beware of horizontal hostility
• When dealing with complexity, embrace
liminality and boundary spanners
Characterising community
Building a
community

3. ‘Do something’
ACTION
‘Learn about
something’
LEARNING
‘Learn how to do
some thing’
DEVELOPMENT
‘Work out what
matters’
REFORM
‘Change something’
CREATE
‘Discover something’
DISCOVER
Global
Local
System
‘Closed’ ‘Open’
On community
‘Distributed’

4. Community of purpose
• Task and finish groups
• Expert groups (with range of
different views)
ACTION
Community of interest
• Learning sets, Alumni
• Hobby groups
• User generated reviews
LEARN
Community of practice
• Professional groups
• Clubs
DEVELOP
Community of inquiry
• Openspace technology, Gov Camps
• Deliberative Dialogue
• One Team Gov
REFORM
Community of innovators
• States of Change
• Free Agents
• The School for Change Agents
CREATE
• ‘Unusual suspects’ festival
• Pecha Kucha
• TED
Community of inspiration
DISCOVER
‘Closed’ ‘Open’
On community
Diverse
Similar

5. Community of
Interest
Community of
Practice
Community of
Purpose
‘Learn about
Something’
LEARN
‘Learn how to do
Something’
DEVELOP
‘Do something’
ACTION
- Exchange of
information
- Common subject
‘bond’
- Shared craft and/or
profession
- Evolves based on
members’
combined interests
- Membership
- Non Hierarchical
- Cross disciplinary
- Cut across silos
- Fast
- Lower bureaucracy
- Common interests
or passion
- Informal
- Organic
- Shared ideas
- Common practice
- Formal relations
- Reflection on
practice
- Shared tools
- likemindedness
- Common purpose
- Action orientated
- Mutuality
- Shared process
- Joint enterprise
• Learning sets
• Hobby groups
• User generated
reviews
• Professional groups
• Clubs
• Networks (OGP)
• Task and finish groups
• Expert groups (with
range of different
views) e.g. peer to
patent
Defining
Characteristic
Incentives /
benefits /
Outcomes Hallmarks Examples in practice
Future CommunitiesExisting Communities
Qualities & Hallmarks
What kinds of networks
exist?

6. Community of
Inquiry
‘Work out what
matters’
REFORM
- Sharing and
influencing things
- Expert input
- Transparency
- Openness
- Collaboration
- Sharing knowledge
and ideas
• OpenSpace
• Deliberative Dialogue
e.g. Citizen space
• Unconferences
• OTG
Defining
Characteristic
Incentives /
benefits /
Outcomes Hallmarks Examples in practice
Community of
Inspiration
Community of
Innovators /
Reformers
‘Discover
something’
DISCOVER
‘Change
something’
CREATE
- Emotional ‘higher
order’ participation
- Surprise
- Lateral thinking
- Camaraderie
- Reassurance
- Systems change
- Developing talent
- Diversity
- Serendipity
- Intersecting beliefs
- Shared paradigm
- Loose / no ties
- Uncommon practice
- Intrapreneurial
- Perceived as
‘radicals’
- Question everything
- Holistic
• ‘Unusual suspects’
festival
• Pecha Kucha
• TED
• Intrapreneur school
• The School for
Change Agents
• Gov Camps
What kinds of networks
are emerging?
Future Communities
Qualities & Hallmarks