“This isn’t what

I thought it

was…”community in the

network age

Nancy White

Full Circle Associates

http://www.fullcirc.com

Thanks, Lisa, Val and Ian

#1 What do we really MEAN

by community?

http://technologyforcommunities.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sveinhal/2201546999/

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,

exploring…

Pairs, triads and very small groups?

Reciprocal

Apprenticeship (Levy)

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

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,

brokering, less

cohesion,

distributed

power/trust, change

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…

#2

Roles

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

#3 Activity

Orientations

Spidergram

… 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

• 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?

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 …

Example: The Environmental

Resource Network

… open-ended

conversation

… meetings

… projects

… access to

expertise

… relationships

… context… community

cultivation

… individual

participation

… content

Monthly meetings with

everyone at the university

concerned about the

environment, shared calendars

Awareness events,

orientation for environmental

student groups, workshops

Inviting experts to monthly

meetings/events/workshop

s

Twitter, Facebook,

email list, member

directories

Public. Minutes are

shared. Network is

accountable to all

students who pay a

levy

Members connected

through a shared

interest

Anyone with an interest in the

environment can be a member

but the network targets active

student groups, rss

Blog,

website,

Bump into another

member? Have a

conversation, emails

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

activities

oriented to …

ERN 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

Epilogue

Resources:

www.technologyforcommunities.com

http://davecormier.com/edblog/2010/

01/27/community-as-curriculum-vol-

2-the-guild-distribute-continuum/

Contact

Nancy White

nancyw at fullcirc dot com

http:www.fullcirc.com

@NancyWhitehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/poagao/527259905/