online community: still crazy after all these years
TRANSCRIPT
Online Community:still crazy after all these years…
Nancy White Full Circle Associates http://www.fullcirc.com
“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.”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/4777491309/
Go
Solo?
Thinking,
my
tasks, explori
ng…
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
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/
… 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?
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/