Category: community

Still relevant: “Do You Really Need A Community?”

From the dregs of drafts… I don’t think the advice has really changed and the relevance of the question may even be more than in 2008 when Beth Kanter blogged this. The very fabric of communities and the ideal of community is quite frayed since then.

Colored dots of various sizes on a field of light gray

Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media: WeAreMedia Module 5: Nancy White Suggests Asking “Do You Really Need A Community?”
Nancy is making a distinction between “traditional” online communities where there are relationships between people in the community and people connecting together around specific interest area or a Tribe. This module has originally put these together under one definition of “community” with the latter being “loosely-coupled” communities. But thinking we need to re-think this a bit. Off to ponder “Are You in the Tribe?”

Maybe the focus on this module should be more “engagement” strategies – and the ways you can do this. If you have a group of people that you don’t want to necessarily interact with one another, but want them to create content — you’d still need an engagement strategy to encourage participation. It would, definitely, as Nancy suggests, impact where and how you might do this.

What do you think?

Bev Wenger-Trayner Place, Pulse, Party

Beverly Wenger-Trayner’s old Eudaimonia blog post “What makes something a place?” is no longer online but in my archives of draft blog posts, this bit of text was saved. It seems to elegantly follow the words of Gardner Cambell in yesterday’s post, that I’m adding it into the slip stream. What do you think, Bev? Your description still resonates for me

Funny, I have been thinking about “place” related to another line of inquiry, and that is place as a recognizable border when I feel I am shifting between community and network. In my networks, I don’t feel the absence of place, but instead focus more on PULSE. In community, and even moreso in TEAM when I am intricately reliant on my partners, place becomes MUCH more central.

In communities of practices, I think I slip between place and pulse. Hm, I think I need to think about this concept some more and blog about it. After I do more housecleaning. (On a roll. Painting.)

Network. Resonance. Place. Pulse. There is something there….

Pen and ink doodle with lines, eyes, hearts, hands, flowers and words.

Gardner Campbell- network or resonance?

From the forest of forgotten blog post drafts, this one from Gardner Campbel still resonates for me. Gardner Writes » Postscript to symbolism and cognitive resonance

It occurs to me that the metaphor of “network” may be holding me (us?) back. I like to think about social networks, network effects, high-speed networks, and so forth. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) But the metaphor conveys a set of telegraphic connections, criss-crossing lines with nodes at the connection points, add-a-beads, point-to-point contacts and correspondences.

When I think about resonance, something else happens in my brain.

I think about resonance effects, about social resonance environments, about sympathetic vibrations and overtones and timbres and chords. I think about symbolism, and suggestion, about most resembling unlikenesses and most unlike resemblances (the way Milton described the relation of husband and wife in a successful–and happy–marriage). I think about complexity calling to complexity, about models that simultaneously simplify and amplify the power of the original as the models make the original more present, more resonant, to our minds.

As a lover of all things network, I too find myself wondering if I’m the hammer, looking for the proverbial nail. Resonance is a lovely option to add to my repertoire. The question is, what tool am I using for resonance? 🙂 I’ve leave that to your speculation.

Quick Edit: while draft cleaning, this one by Jim Benson “Liberate your Inner Hammer” on  form/function weaves into our speculation.

Reflections of islands in Skagit Bay at high tide. Ika Island in the distance on the left, Goat Island on the right. Light clouds reflected in the water.

Hapiness Passing Thingies

—-> Ed Mitchell: Platform neutral » Blog Archive » Happiness located in Bristol – Alas

I’m dredging old blog drafts again. This is a dead link. But dang, I loved the title so much, I decided it would have to be reborn as a blog post. A blog search turned up nothing. So I’m going to adopt “happiness passing thingies” and bring it back to life.

In our pandemic context, there is so much trauma, most of which we can’t perceive beyond our own personal experience. As we start a video meeting, we don’t see each person’s undercurrents.

On Facebook today, the marvelous human being and author Patti Digh wondered out loud about how to honor the amazing staff and volunteers at her local vaccination site.  You can’t bring presents, food or flowers — health protocols forbid. One person said she was going to dress up in green and sparkles because here appointment was on March 17, to share some silly joy. Many other suggested kind words and “eye smiles.” (Those masks!)

Then I thought back to this draft. Happiness Passing Thingies. They are everywhere. They are in words, eye-smiles, the pause to step aside for a safe six foot pass while conveying warmth and community through eye contact.

They are in the unexpected moments of grace, of recognition, gratitude and gifts. My walking partner shared how she gave one of her amazing staff people an unexpected day off to enjoy the Spring weather we so crave here in the PNW as a recognition of his above-and-beyond work.

MORE HAPPINESS PASSING THINGIES! And Thanks, Ed!

Dredging: Community 2.0 2018 – My Sketch Notes

Another draft post, dredged up, examined for relevance or humor. This one from 2018, the oldest draft in my queue.

Wow, this is an old draft. 2008, the Community 2.0 gathering in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some people blogged about it (Thanks, Victoria Axelrod!) in a more – ahem – timely manner! I did a talk on the history of online community, which I live sketched as I went. Trust me, I have not tried that again. My conclusions were pretty spot on, but relatively safe. Heh!

Community 2.0 – Las Vegas – a set on Flickr

My sketch notes. 12 + years later and a pandemic, what has changed? Patti Anklam’s stuff is still spot on and I wish she was still blogging. Tony Hseih is sadly gone but his approach to customer service still warms my heart. AmyJo Kim’s stuff continues to evolve from the base she shared that year. Shel Israel has stopped blogging and sadly I can’t find many recent traces of him.

My conclusion? Us old timers are getting old. 🙂