Full Circle Associates

Patrick Lambe has posted a very interesting analysis of a challenging conversation in an online community, ACT-KM.

Green Chameleon - Conflict, Gender and Identity in Online Communities:

"I’ve long been fascinated by the way that different online communities each have their distinct ‘personalities’ and ways of behaving. Often the community’s identity is heavily imprinted by its founders or leaders, but ACT-KM has interested me because its moderators are almost anonymous, leading contributors come and go, and yet the “personality” of the community is very consistent over time. Nowhere is this most evident in the way that it manages conflicts, often with minimal intervention by moderators. Some time ago I analysed an extended flame that took place in late 2003 between Dave Snowden, Joseph Firestone and Mark McElroy, and I’ve been meaning to write it up properly. Now, thanks to Hong Kong Polytechnic University making me write a module for them, here it is."

Click into the PDF and check it out. It seems to be the theme of my blog posts this week, but what Patrick writes about makes a lot of sense to me based on my experiences.

There is a related post on the Green Chameleon that also touches on similar issues, this time related to negotiated group norms. Even when open, transparent and open to negotiation by the group, some will perceive norms as controlled and top down. Too few norms = chaos. Too many = oppression. Tough place to balance in between.