“We gathered here for not to stay dispersed” an older joke was saying.
Empty joke, isn’t it? Well… I think not. It wasn’t empty before, and it isn’t empty now either. Because then it was a criticism of those useless meetings with flying flags and a lot of sunstroke. Now it works perfectly for many groups that cut mint to dogs (of course, after they previously rubbed it), agitating their spirit for nothing.
Then the joke said “We gathered here for something we don’t belive in”. Now the joke says “We gathered here because we don’t have something else to do”.
And now, a 400 years older one, that it is not written by me: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main […] Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
Now we got to the subject of this post: The Community
A goup it is not a community. It becomes a community when its members begin to feel themselves as parts of one body and not as separate islands. When they feel that they can freely ask and get back answers, that they can talk and they are listened, that they can create and receive support for this, when they have acces to a spring of knowledge and when their personal experience mixes with the others’ personal experiences and, all together, they give birth to something bigger then a any other individual.
Briefly, when “We gathered here not to stay dispersed” becomes “Everyone of us is a part of the unit”.
And where is the connection with the web?
Well… there is a connection. Because the Web was born as a result of the specific necessities of the community. It grew up and became a welcoming land for the arising and the development of countless communities, thus becoming itself the biggest community ever.
Those who manage to build powerfull web communities, will be the winners on the “battlefield:web”, because …
Communities generate first-class content
Thanks to the joint input, the content created by the community members is constantly improved, sifted, distilled until it becomes of a high quality that reflects the community’s image. Aiming to obtain the others’ recognition and appreciation, the community members work hard in order to create high quality material, to offer first-class suggestions and opinions.
For example, when a literary creation is presented to a literary community, this will generate competent reactions and opinions - these last ones being themselves quality community products. This is one of the greatest advantages of a community.
The interaction between the members of a community is usually constructive, not destructive.The divergences of opinion and their solution contribute at the community’s unity and development.
« Content is king »! So, owning and generating high quality content will always be the key of a powerfull position. Without quality content delivered in a fast and accessible manner, nobody is alowed to dream at the web player statute.
The communities inspire loyalties
When people find a community they feel comfortable with, they stick with it for as long as their necessities are fulfilled. Our time is way too short as for imigrating from one community to another or as for activating in too many communities.
Communities are like families. Their members know, recognize, approve and disapprove each other, they become part of the others’ lives. Usually, a community looses its members only when it starts to creak and when managing lines that helped at its construction are forgoten..
Communities can be easily targeted and identified
A community is described through its members and through their common interests. No matter if it is about literature, policy, photography, advertising or exotic fishes! The community always tells everything about itself. By its own presence, the community makes available to any interested person the necessary informations for initiating and maintaining the contact with its members. Communities are the ideal target of all sellers and advertisers.
Powerful communities become powerful voices that can produce echo in many other areas of society
So powerful that they could force presidents to resign, giant-companies to change their strategy, military troups to come or to leave, spaceships to fly or to rust!
The voice of a community is lauder then all individual voices of its members at one place, exactly as a petition signed by a thousand people is stronger then one thousand letters that will get streight to the trash.
But how communities can be build?
Because to implant a stake in the ground and to say “all ye romantic poets come here and gather around this stake. We’ll be a community” is not really working. Romantic poets are famous for their free spirit.
An individual consents for a community according to his interests, from the desire of becoming better, of receiveing support, of helping others, of feeling he is part of something he believes in.
However, an individual won’t consent to a community if:
- he doesn’t know about its existence
- he doesn’t have the will of gaining knowledge, the will of growing
- he is already all involved within a community that shares his vision and that fullfils him
- the community doesn’t manage to impress him through the quality of its opinions, of its actions and of its members’ creations
- the area in which the community operates it is of no interest to him
- he can’t visualize any benefits from this adesion
- the laizyness > the enthusiasm
I know many polemics. But others have overtaken them so now we’ll have to look over the fence…to be continued.
