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sponsored
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We hear so much about community. But what is it, really? How do you get your thoughts around such an abstract concept? A community can mean so much Now think about online communities and what they mean. Talk about abstract. In the physical world, communities are defined by a context, a place in the world that exists for reasons that are defined by people, events and the environment that surrounds them. Take a look at the fair city of Portland, Oregon. It’s a place defined by geographic boundaries that influence where people live. Each neighborhood has its own characteristics. People find different reasons to live in different parts of the city. It may be proximity to work, the quality of schools, and desires for a certain lifestyle. The Hawthorne District, on the east side of the Willamette River, is known for its alternative crowd and hippie culture. The Pearl District, near downtown, is home to hipsters, art galleries and a modern, urbane lifestyle. Neighborhoods like Hawthorne and the Pearl define themselves by the place and the people who live there. Their daily habits and ways of life directly affect the culture of the neighborhood and the city at large. These cultural characteristics define the neighborhood community. But, obviously, neighborhoods are not autonomous places. Each neighborhood spreads its community-influenced culture throughout the city. The neighborhood’s culture spreads like a thread, or invisible line to form an invisible pattern of criss-cross connections that create the larger Portland community. Online communities are like neighborhoods in a way. They have boundaries. People define online communities according to their own interests. These online communities form their own cultures and ways to communicate and interact. But they are not autonomous, either. Their threads, hyperlinks, and other methods for communication and interaction directly affect the overall Internet culture and community. We’ve created a short, online interview to ask your thoughts about online communities and how they affect you and the role they play in your work. How has the Internet changed our perspective about community? How are we shaping community in our work? Share your thoughts and we’ll publish all the results in the coming weeks. Perhaps we’ll all learn a bit more about what community means in this big, abstract world. We
look forward to the conversation. Click on this link to begin the
interview: |
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