Online Community:still crazy after all these years…

Nancy White Full Circle Associates http://www.fullcirc.com

1Friday, April 15, 2011

Is “community” dead?

Irrelevant?

Over-used? Abused?

Spot-on?

When? Why?

2Friday, April 15, 2011

“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.”

3Friday, April 15, 2011

#1 What do we really MEAN

4Friday, April 15, 2011

http://technologyforcommunities.com/

5Friday, April 15, 2011

Tech + Social:Technology has

fundamentally changed how we can be together

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

Go Solo?

Thinking, my tasks, exploring…

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Pairs, triads and very small groups?8Friday, April 15, 2011

Reciprocal Apprenticeship (Levy)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachstern/87431231/

9Friday, April 15, 2011

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

10Friday, April 15, 2011

Fly with the flock?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/odreiuqzide/3184901242/

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Roam the network?

12Friday, April 15, 2011

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualPersonal identity,

interest & trajectory

Bounded membership; group identity,

shared interest, human centered

Boundaryless; fuzzy, intersecting interests,

object centered sociality (Engeström)

13Friday, April 15, 2011

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualConsciousness, confidence level, risk tolerance, styles, emotion

Distinct power/trust dynamics, shared forward movement or strong blocking, bonding, stasis, attn. to maintenance, languageFlows around blocks,

bridging, brokering, less cohesion, distributed power/trust, change

14Friday, April 15, 2011

Many: Networks

We: Communities

Me: the IndividualMy email, journals, email, portfolios, Facebook page, etc.

Meetings, confs., projects, wikis, group blogs, collaborative platforms…Facebook,

ELGG, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia,etc…

15Friday, April 15, 2011

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/

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facilitators community leaderstechnology stewards network weaversIndependent thinkers moderators

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A Practice (practical)

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… 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

19Friday, April 15, 2011

activities oriented to …

Example: The Birdwatchersof 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

20Friday, April 15, 2011

activities oriented to …

Community Name: KM4Devglobal 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…

21Friday, April 15, 2011

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

22Friday, April 15, 2011

• 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

OrientationsPicking tools?

How?

23Friday, April 15, 2011

Looking forward…

24Friday, April 15, 2011

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

25Friday, April 15, 2011

new fabric of connectivity- - togetherness and separation

- - always on

- - virtual presence

- - peripherality

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

26Friday, April 15, 2011

active technology landscape– - interacting and publishing

– - social/informational computing

– - semantic web

– - digital footprint

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

27Friday, April 15, 2011

multiple engagement modes– - generalized self-expression– - mass collaboration– - creative re-appropriation– - thin connections/weak ties

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

28Friday, April 15, 2011

reconfigured geographies– - competing spaces– - multimembership– - dynamic boundaries– - global reach

From Wenger, White and Smith, 2009

29Friday, April 15, 2011

Epilogue

ContactNancy Whitenancyw at fullcirc dot com

http:www.fullcirc.com

www.technologyforcommunities.com

@NancyWhite

http://www.flickr.com/photos/poagao/527259905/30Friday, April 15, 2011