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 What do we really MEAN

by community?

http://technologyforcommunities.com/

Tech + Social:

Technology has

fundamentally changed

how we can be together

http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/4777491309/

Go

Solo?

Thinking,

my

tasks, explori

ng…

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?

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualPersonal

identity,

interest &

trajectory

Bounded

membership;

group

identity, shared

interest, human

centeredBoundaryless;

fuzzy, intersecting

interests, object

centered sociality

(Engeström)

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualConsciousness,

confidence

level, risk

tolerance,

styles, emotionDistinct power/trust

dynamics, shared

forward movement or

strong blocking,

bonding, stasis, attn.

to maintenance,

languageFlows around

blocks, bridging, bro

kering, less

cohesion, distributed

power/trust, change

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualMy

email, journals, e

mail, portfolios, F

acebook

page, etc.

Meetings, confs.,

projects, wikis, gr

oup

blogs, collaborativ

e platforms…Facebook, EL

GG, Twitter, Yo

uTube, Wikiped

ia,etc…

enable people to…

• discover & appropriate useful technology

• be in and use communities &

networks (people)

• express their identity

• find and create content

• usefully participate

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stillthedudeabides/186852754/

facilitators

community leaders

technology stewards

network weaversIndependent thinkers

moderators

A Practice (practical)

Example

… meetings

… relationships

… community

cultivation

… access to

expertise

… projects

… context

… individual

participation

… content

publishing

… open-ended

conversation

Community

activities

oriented to …

Base material from:

Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for

communities

© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

activities

oriented to …

Example: The Birdwatchers

of Central Park

… open-ended

conversation

… meetings

… projects

… access to

expertise

… relationships

… context… community

cultivation

… individual

participation

… content

publishing

Weekly bird walks, winter bird

feeding fillings, irregular

celebrations and events…

Advocacy drives, adopt parts

of the park, bird counts…

The participation of the

“Big Guns,” and

“Regulars.” Mostly F2F

Note when people

missing… Invite

people in

Internal and External

focus: Publishing, the

“Register,” available

to media…While everyone pays

attention to the community,

no centralized efforts…

Anyone can bird watch, but

sharing what you see/know is

important…so the community

accommodates both

The “Register”

(print) is central

to community…

Bump into another

bird-watcher? Have a

conversation…

Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for communities, © 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

activities

oriented to …

Community Name: KM4Dev

global knowledge sharing network

… open-ended

conversation

… meetings

… projects

… access to

expertise

… relationships

… context… community

cultivation

… individual

participation

… content

publishing

Base material from:

Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for

communities

© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

With only one meeting a

year, large size and

diversity, KM4Dev

focuses on enabling

individual participation.

Community knowledge wiki,

content management system

to bring together resources.

Email list is core of

community activity

Once a year and only about

10% do/can participate.

When funding allows. E.G.

supporting ShareFair

Informally via the email list

by asking/answering

questions.

Relationships mostly via

meetings and core group.

Strongly

external – all

resources

public/shared.While everyone pays

attention to the

community, no

centralized efforts…

activities

oriented to …

Birdwatchers and KM4Dev-ers

… open-ended

conversation

… meetings

… projects

… access to

expertise

… relationships

… context

… community

cultivation

… individual

participation

… content

publishing

Base material from:

Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for

communities

© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

• 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.

Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for communities

© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

Orientations

Picking tools?

How?

Looking forward…

In collaboration with Nancy White and John Smith

new fabric of connectivity

active technology landscapes

multiple engagement modes

reconfigured geographies

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

new fabric of connectivity

- - togetherness and separation

- - always on

- - virtual presence

- - peripherality

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

active technology landscape

– - interacting and publishing

– - social/informational computing

– - semantic web

– - digital footprint

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

multiple engagement modes

– - generalized self-expression

– - mass collaboration

– - creative re-appropriation

– - thin connections/weak ties

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

reconfigured geographies

– - competing spaces

– - multimembership

– - dynamic boundaries

– - global reach

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

Epilogue

Contact

Nancy White

nancyw at fullcirc dot com

http:www.fullcirc.com

www.technologyforcommunities.com

@NancyWhite

http://www.flickr.com/photos/poagao/527259905/