Seven weeks into this module, I doubt that I will continue to keep a blog upon the module’s completion. I certainly feel more comfortable about sharing my thoughts online but I still prefer keeping in touch via email or the telephone.
Initially, blogging to me seemed to be me more of a certain kind of one way communication aimed at simultaneously everyone and no-one. That is to say someone who by chance stumbles across my blog may or may not decide to read it.
Having said that, my opinion that blogging is a particular form of one way communication was proven wrong. Anyone is free to leave comments and thus interact with the author. When Mette and I went to the IET’s annual Mountbatten lecture Walking the Digital Dog and subsequently blogged about it, I was positively surprised to find Roo Reynolds (the guy who gave the lecture) had commented on my (/our) entry (/entries) about the event. In this way we entered into a dialogue with Roo Reynolds, albeit unintentionally. Above all, it gave both us and Roo Reynolds the opportunity to clarify any concerns. This is clearly something that with the utmost probability would not have happened had we not blogged about it. Considering this I can’t deny that blogging is undoubtedly advantageous.
Yet to me blogging still feels like writing a diary. In light of this module then blogging I believe is very appropriate as we’re supposed to use it to document our learning progress. Upon the completion of this module however blogging will serve no purpose for me anymore. So my conservative attitude towards blogging doesn’t seem to have changed much. In my defence though I have never been much of a diary person either!
Perhaps I should also add that even though blogging is not my cup of tea, I do approve of websites such as Milblogging that provide a space for soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq (as well as their families) for example to disseminate their first-hand experiences of the war. I regard these blogs as important to our understanding of warfare as they clearly offer a counterpoint to mainstream media coverage of the war in Iraq.
Another thing (totally unrelated to the above) I would like to mention here with regard to blogging is that blogger has left me severely frustrated at times. I’m perhaps a little squeamish in this respect but one thing I find particularly annoying is that lately after adding pictures or videos the spacing of the text beneath the added item seems to decrease (see Good Web Design/ Bad Web Design and Walking the Digital Dog) making the entry look patchy. I have yet to figure out how to prevent this if that is at all possible. Surprisingly in an earlier entry (My first attempt at blogging…) this didn’t happen (or maybe I found a way to set it right and just can’t remember).
Tuesday 20 November 2007
Making Progress
As planned we had a brief group meeting before class on Monday. This allowed us to discuss where we’re at in terms of the group project, as well as determine what we believe still needs to be done.
As in class we were given a chance to work within our groups (which I greatly appreciated!), we were able to focus our attention on one of our top priorities this week: sorting out the web design of our wiki page.
Editing the wiki appeared to be more difficult than I first anticipated. Fortunately Neng has some previous experience with html and web design in general, for which I’m very grateful. We opted for a somewhat minimalist design, which is not to say that this is a bad thing. In fact, at present I’m very pleased with the design of our wiki page. I’m especially happy about the choice of colour, which is particularly easy on the eye. Of course, there are still some inconsistencies which we’ll have to work on but most importantly the first step has been taken.
I’ve already played around with the wiki last night and made some minor formatting changes. This definitely made me feel more comfortable with the whole editing process. Monday’s class was thus incredibly valuable: not only did it help ease my concerns voiced in my previous blog entry, but I also feel that I have acquired some important wiki editing skills for this project.
Although I have been feeling a little insecure about adding my (not yet final) written work on social networking sites onto our wiki page, I nevertheless did it yesterday. It is clearly convenient to have everything that is project-related in one place, which will probably make the final editing process easier.
Hopefully by the end of this week our research into virtual communities will be completed and put down in writing so we can start piecing everything together.
As in class we were given a chance to work within our groups (which I greatly appreciated!), we were able to focus our attention on one of our top priorities this week: sorting out the web design of our wiki page.
Editing the wiki appeared to be more difficult than I first anticipated. Fortunately Neng has some previous experience with html and web design in general, for which I’m very grateful. We opted for a somewhat minimalist design, which is not to say that this is a bad thing. In fact, at present I’m very pleased with the design of our wiki page. I’m especially happy about the choice of colour, which is particularly easy on the eye. Of course, there are still some inconsistencies which we’ll have to work on but most importantly the first step has been taken.
I’ve already played around with the wiki last night and made some minor formatting changes. This definitely made me feel more comfortable with the whole editing process. Monday’s class was thus incredibly valuable: not only did it help ease my concerns voiced in my previous blog entry, but I also feel that I have acquired some important wiki editing skills for this project.
Although I have been feeling a little insecure about adding my (not yet final) written work on social networking sites onto our wiki page, I nevertheless did it yesterday. It is clearly convenient to have everything that is project-related in one place, which will probably make the final editing process easier.
Hopefully by the end of this week our research into virtual communities will be completed and put down in writing so we can start piecing everything together.
Sunday 18 November 2007
Panic setting in…
This week I believe has been the toughest so far. We seem to have lost a group member along the way (?) and with the deadline looming panic is slowly but surely setting in. Having been granted a look at last year’s group projects I have to admit didn’t reduce the panic. Most of their finished websites, if not all of them, were in my opinion very well designed. Considering that we have only swiftly worried about the design of our wiki page this didn’t help. It was good however to get an idea of what is expected of us in terms of written style, as well as quantity and quality of information. Whether we will meet these expectations is another question.
On a more positive note, it was great to be given time to work on our group project in class on Monday. This allowed us to determine a third virtual community as a case study for our group project, namely Freecycle. It was also helpful to be able to consult Nigel in order to eliminate any remaining unclarities with regard to the group project.
I’ve also finally decided to stop reading and start writing. I found that, while interesting and undoubtedly relevant, it is difficult to incorporate all the information I have collected on virtual communities into our project. There just seems to be so much to say about virtual communities that I’m somewhat afraid we won’t be able to do the project justice. For one, there is still plenty of material available on the subject matter that I haven’t had the chance to look at (yet).
In general I also noticed that there is little academic material on social networking sites per se, possibly because they are relatively new phenomena. Overall, out of all the texts I’ve read I found Howard Rheingold’s (2000) revised edition of The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier most useful in regard to this project. I also think that David Bell’s (2001) essay Community and Cyberculture in his book An Introduction to Cybercultures provides a fantastically comprehensive account of the different understandings of community within the field. Unfortunately, Bell’s work is one of many I have read that have found no place in my first written draft on social networking sites.
We have scheduled a group meeting before class this Monday to discuss and edit the work we have done so far. I’m also still unhappy with the design of our web page as already mentioned above. Hopefully we can resolve this problem on Monday as well as start exchanging ideas about images and videos we might want to include.
With two weeks to go I’m still hoping I’ll get a chance to analyse the group dynamics in relation to Belbin and Tuckman’s work as originally intended but time is running out…
On a more positive note, it was great to be given time to work on our group project in class on Monday. This allowed us to determine a third virtual community as a case study for our group project, namely Freecycle. It was also helpful to be able to consult Nigel in order to eliminate any remaining unclarities with regard to the group project.
I’ve also finally decided to stop reading and start writing. I found that, while interesting and undoubtedly relevant, it is difficult to incorporate all the information I have collected on virtual communities into our project. There just seems to be so much to say about virtual communities that I’m somewhat afraid we won’t be able to do the project justice. For one, there is still plenty of material available on the subject matter that I haven’t had the chance to look at (yet).
In general I also noticed that there is little academic material on social networking sites per se, possibly because they are relatively new phenomena. Overall, out of all the texts I’ve read I found Howard Rheingold’s (2000) revised edition of The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier most useful in regard to this project. I also think that David Bell’s (2001) essay Community and Cyberculture in his book An Introduction to Cybercultures provides a fantastically comprehensive account of the different understandings of community within the field. Unfortunately, Bell’s work is one of many I have read that have found no place in my first written draft on social networking sites.
We have scheduled a group meeting before class this Monday to discuss and edit the work we have done so far. I’m also still unhappy with the design of our web page as already mentioned above. Hopefully we can resolve this problem on Monday as well as start exchanging ideas about images and videos we might want to include.
With two weeks to go I’m still hoping I’ll get a chance to analyse the group dynamics in relation to Belbin and Tuckman’s work as originally intended but time is running out…
Monday 12 November 2007
Group Project
I was pleased that Nigel made some space for us on Monday to meet in our groups. I felt that because half of my group members were prevented to attend the lecture the previous week we were lagging a bit behind. As aforementioned I have difficulties making decisions and imposing them upon others, something I will definitely have to work on.
Anyway, as we presented our ideas Nigel pointed out that we had to find a focus point linking them all together so as to avoid making the group project sound as if it were three/ four separate essays rather than one coherent, fluid piece. So Karl, Neng and I met Thursday afternoon to discuss this. We had agreed on Monday to do some reading on virtual communities. After an ongoing debate we all came to the conclusion that it would be tricky to come up with one unanimous definition for the term ‘community’. So we decided that through our piece we will be aiming to explore the different ways the term is understood (and how virtual communities might differ from and/or be similar to real life communities) by comparing and examining specific virtual communities as case studies (Queeruption, MySpace, and possibly a third one which we have yet to agree upon).
Overall, I'm quite happy with the way the group project is developing. I’m also relieved that we were given an indication of how long the piece is expected to be (thanks to Bella!). I’m still a little puzzled though about the style of writing that is required of us. I understand that it is supposed to be academic but in the first person… Oh well, I’m sure we’ll figured it out.
Anyway, as we presented our ideas Nigel pointed out that we had to find a focus point linking them all together so as to avoid making the group project sound as if it were three/ four separate essays rather than one coherent, fluid piece. So Karl, Neng and I met Thursday afternoon to discuss this. We had agreed on Monday to do some reading on virtual communities. After an ongoing debate we all came to the conclusion that it would be tricky to come up with one unanimous definition for the term ‘community’. So we decided that through our piece we will be aiming to explore the different ways the term is understood (and how virtual communities might differ from and/or be similar to real life communities) by comparing and examining specific virtual communities as case studies (Queeruption, MySpace, and possibly a third one which we have yet to agree upon).
Overall, I'm quite happy with the way the group project is developing. I’m also relieved that we were given an indication of how long the piece is expected to be (thanks to Bella!). I’m still a little puzzled though about the style of writing that is required of us. I understand that it is supposed to be academic but in the first person… Oh well, I’m sure we’ll figured it out.
Sunday 11 November 2007
Good Web Design/ Bad Web Design
Before I will post my examples for what I consider good and bad web design I’d like to point out that, as in all matters of taste, these examples have been chosen in a subjective manner. I generally believe that since most commercial websites are usually designed by professionals it is not easy to find fault with them. I also don’t feel I’m in a position to make any such judgements as my knowledge in regards to the aesthetic aspects of web design is rather poor. Moreover, the websites I tend to visit regularly are in my opinion relatively well designed. I had more difficulties finding a poorly designed web page.
So here we go.
Please find below my example of what I consider to be good web design.
This web page is generally clearly arranged. The colours in my opinion are harmonic and suitable. Information is relevant, concise and clear as well as easy to find.
This website by contrast appears to be less well organized and is definitely messier. It’s nevertheless fairly simple to find what you’re looking for. I also think that the website might benefit from earthlier colours. Since the organization is dedicated to sell and promote ethical items the shade of blue employed on its website seems inappropriate. I tend to associate the colour with chemicals rather than ethical consumption. I still wouldn’t argue however that it represents a good example for a poorly designed web page.
Websites similar to the one above are clearly poorly designed, basically because there is no design whatsoever. Whilst the font and style used might be consistent the content appears to be more suitable for print than online. The web page completely fails to grab my attention and there is simply too much information on one page. Then again I think it is important to keep the purpose of certain websites in mind…
Phew! This entry actually took me longer to complete than any other – I wasted hours to find out how to make cached snapshots of websites and publish them successfully as pictures on my blog. At least I can now say there’s something I’ve learned today. :o)
So here we go.
Please find below my example of what I consider to be good web design.
This web page is generally clearly arranged. The colours in my opinion are harmonic and suitable. Information is relevant, concise and clear as well as easy to find.
This website by contrast appears to be less well organized and is definitely messier. It’s nevertheless fairly simple to find what you’re looking for. I also think that the website might benefit from earthlier colours. Since the organization is dedicated to sell and promote ethical items the shade of blue employed on its website seems inappropriate. I tend to associate the colour with chemicals rather than ethical consumption. I still wouldn’t argue however that it represents a good example for a poorly designed web page. Websites similar to the one above are clearly poorly designed, basically because there is no design whatsoever. Whilst the font and style used might be consistent the content appears to be more suitable for print than online. The web page completely fails to grab my attention and there is simply too much information on one page. Then again I think it is important to keep the purpose of certain websites in mind…Phew! This entry actually took me longer to complete than any other – I wasted hours to find out how to make cached snapshots of websites and publish them successfully as pictures on my blog. At least I can now say there’s something I’ve learned today. :o)
Saturday 10 November 2007
Walking the Digital Dog
On Thursday Mette and I attended the 30th annual Mountbatten lecture at the IET, as suggested by Nigel. As the title of the lecture (Walking the Digital Dog: Work, Learn and Play in Digital Worlds) delivered by Andrew (Roo) Reynolds of IBM already indicates the audience was introduced to how virtual worlds are used to play, work, and learn.
The first thing that struck me (/us) was the audience. Upon arrival we seemed to be the only females in their mid-20s attending the lecture. The Common room, in which registration took place and refreshments were served, was predominantly filled with men in their mid-40s and above. Given that the lecture was first and foremost aimed at people with no experience of virtual worlds one would naturally expect older people in the audience. Later it emerged however that many of them appeared to have more experience of and within virtual worlds than I do. So much for conventional stereotyping…
Then again the conspicuous non-attendance of women in my opinion clearly reflected the general absence of women within technology. I was thus happy to spot the name of a woman working for an organization called womenintechnology on the list of participants that we were given at registration. Thanks to the name badges we were all encouraged to wear it was easy to find and approach her. I found it interesting and exciting to find out about an organization committed to promote and support women within the IT sector, a field that is still largely dominated by men. We were also given a business card by a council member of the Women’s Engineering Society ‘promoting the education, training and practice of engineering among women’. I’m pleased to have found out that through organizations such as these women are given a voice in an industry for which they regrettably still seem to be regarded as unsuitable. Of course it was also fantastic to observe that women who are active in the IT sector stick together and aid one another.
The lecture itself I thought was excellent, albeit a little too positive about virtual worlds. Since I received the lecture as a response to the negative press virtual worlds such as Second Life tend to get this was acceptable. As the handout we were given upon registration states, Reynolds was arguing that ‘virtual worlds may affect mankind as momentously as writing, the printing press, the telephone and the World Wide Web’. I think it is fair to say that he has convinced me.
Reynolds undoubtedly made clear that virtual worlds are suitable for everyone. Although I have difficulties picturing my own granny (who’s still very active) enthusiastically in front of a computer trotting about in the form of an avatar in Second Life, I can see how this might work for other elderly people. I certainly think that for those suffering from autism or Aspergers, as well as for people with a pathological fear of social contact, virtual worlds can provide a platform for establishing social relationships and perhaps even help them overcome their anxieties. Reynolds in fact repeatedly stressed the possibilities virtual worlds offer in terms of maintaining as well as building social relationships.
The usefulness of the space-time compression intrinsic to virtual worlds was also touched upon. This means that corporate meetings and lectures for example can take place without anyone having to travel. Whilst this of course is very convenient, it is simultaneously environmentally friendly. At a time in which global warming poses an imminent threat, the reduction of business flights to me sounds particularly appealing.
I didn’t understand how Reynolds could compare watching a baseball (or football) match with friends in a virtual world to doing the same in a pub though. Doesn’t the whole atmosphere get lost in doing so? And isn’t it a rather lonely experience? I realize it might enable me to watch a football match with (I’m not sure whether ‘to watch with’ is the correct phrase here) family and friends abroad but that to me doesn’t even replace watching the football with friends on the telly at home, let alone in the pub.
Another interesting topic covered by Reynolds was how virtual worlds are increasingly utilized for educational purposes. Reynolds made reference to a game called Recall that is taking its players through Ireland’s troubled history in the form of a Romeo and Juliet story. This game is distributed around Irish schools. My younger brother (and many other schoolchildren), who spends more time playing World of Warcraft than concentrating on school, would certainly benefit from such a game. The idea of learning through playing I believe is a brilliant one. Reynolds also demonstrated how virtual worlds are used for training purposes in the medical profession for example. Whilst it can’t replace hands-on experience in surgery the simulation can nevertheless aid in familiarizing oneself with the sequence of events etc.
I don’t want to go into any further detail here in respect to Reynold’s lecture so I’ll just post the slideshow (taken from www.rooreynolds.com) that was used by him in case anyone is interested.
After the lecture we were invited for (free) drinks in the Common room to discuss our thoughts with other members of the audience, a perfect opportunity for networking. Mette and I had an exciting conversation with the director of Codexx Associates Ltd and a senior lecturer at Kingston University’s Faculty of Computing about issues of fraud (and the handling of other criminal activities) within Second Life (or other virtual worlds). This is certainly an area I’d like to look into in more detail. I’ve also succumbed and decided that I would eventually establish a Second Life presence in order to get some firsthand experience.
Overall, I had a fantastic evening so thank you very much Nigel for bringing the event to our attention! It was definitely an enriching experience and I’m glad I went.
The first thing that struck me (/us) was the audience. Upon arrival we seemed to be the only females in their mid-20s attending the lecture. The Common room, in which registration took place and refreshments were served, was predominantly filled with men in their mid-40s and above. Given that the lecture was first and foremost aimed at people with no experience of virtual worlds one would naturally expect older people in the audience. Later it emerged however that many of them appeared to have more experience of and within virtual worlds than I do. So much for conventional stereotyping…
Then again the conspicuous non-attendance of women in my opinion clearly reflected the general absence of women within technology. I was thus happy to spot the name of a woman working for an organization called womenintechnology on the list of participants that we were given at registration. Thanks to the name badges we were all encouraged to wear it was easy to find and approach her. I found it interesting and exciting to find out about an organization committed to promote and support women within the IT sector, a field that is still largely dominated by men. We were also given a business card by a council member of the Women’s Engineering Society ‘promoting the education, training and practice of engineering among women’. I’m pleased to have found out that through organizations such as these women are given a voice in an industry for which they regrettably still seem to be regarded as unsuitable. Of course it was also fantastic to observe that women who are active in the IT sector stick together and aid one another.
The lecture itself I thought was excellent, albeit a little too positive about virtual worlds. Since I received the lecture as a response to the negative press virtual worlds such as Second Life tend to get this was acceptable. As the handout we were given upon registration states, Reynolds was arguing that ‘virtual worlds may affect mankind as momentously as writing, the printing press, the telephone and the World Wide Web’. I think it is fair to say that he has convinced me.
Reynolds undoubtedly made clear that virtual worlds are suitable for everyone. Although I have difficulties picturing my own granny (who’s still very active) enthusiastically in front of a computer trotting about in the form of an avatar in Second Life, I can see how this might work for other elderly people. I certainly think that for those suffering from autism or Aspergers, as well as for people with a pathological fear of social contact, virtual worlds can provide a platform for establishing social relationships and perhaps even help them overcome their anxieties. Reynolds in fact repeatedly stressed the possibilities virtual worlds offer in terms of maintaining as well as building social relationships.
The usefulness of the space-time compression intrinsic to virtual worlds was also touched upon. This means that corporate meetings and lectures for example can take place without anyone having to travel. Whilst this of course is very convenient, it is simultaneously environmentally friendly. At a time in which global warming poses an imminent threat, the reduction of business flights to me sounds particularly appealing.
I didn’t understand how Reynolds could compare watching a baseball (or football) match with friends in a virtual world to doing the same in a pub though. Doesn’t the whole atmosphere get lost in doing so? And isn’t it a rather lonely experience? I realize it might enable me to watch a football match with (I’m not sure whether ‘to watch with’ is the correct phrase here) family and friends abroad but that to me doesn’t even replace watching the football with friends on the telly at home, let alone in the pub.
Another interesting topic covered by Reynolds was how virtual worlds are increasingly utilized for educational purposes. Reynolds made reference to a game called Recall that is taking its players through Ireland’s troubled history in the form of a Romeo and Juliet story. This game is distributed around Irish schools. My younger brother (and many other schoolchildren), who spends more time playing World of Warcraft than concentrating on school, would certainly benefit from such a game. The idea of learning through playing I believe is a brilliant one. Reynolds also demonstrated how virtual worlds are used for training purposes in the medical profession for example. Whilst it can’t replace hands-on experience in surgery the simulation can nevertheless aid in familiarizing oneself with the sequence of events etc.
I don’t want to go into any further detail here in respect to Reynold’s lecture so I’ll just post the slideshow (taken from www.rooreynolds.com) that was used by him in case anyone is interested.
After the lecture we were invited for (free) drinks in the Common room to discuss our thoughts with other members of the audience, a perfect opportunity for networking. Mette and I had an exciting conversation with the director of Codexx Associates Ltd and a senior lecturer at Kingston University’s Faculty of Computing about issues of fraud (and the handling of other criminal activities) within Second Life (or other virtual worlds). This is certainly an area I’d like to look into in more detail. I’ve also succumbed and decided that I would eventually establish a Second Life presence in order to get some firsthand experience.
Overall, I had a fantastic evening so thank you very much Nigel for bringing the event to our attention! It was definitely an enriching experience and I’m glad I went.
Sunday 4 November 2007
What is a community?
First of all I believe I ought to mention that I’m not intending to find a suitable definition for the term ‘community’ here (if that is at all possible), as I believe this should be reserved for our group project. Rather I would like to use this space to reflect on the discussion we had in class with regard to the notion of ‘community’ and my own perception of it.
I think after Monday’s lecture and discussion, we can all agree that the concept of ‘community’ is a very complex one. I, for my part, don’t believe it is possible to come up with one universal definition for ‘community’.
Nonetheless, I realized that I seem to have a very clear perception of whether or not I’m a member of certain (what are usually referred to as) communities without any apparent or rational reason.
The concept of ‘community’ seems to be closely connected with the concept of commonality. One’s belonging to a community might thus be determined geographically for example, that is according to one’s shared nationality, birthplace and/ or one’s shared place of residence.
Accordingly, I would have to class myself as being a member of the German community in Reading (if there is such a thing), which I don’t. In fact, I don’t consider myself as belonging to any community in connection with being German (or living in Reading) at all. I believe that nationality is more or less irrelevant in terms of community membership, probably because you can’t really choose your nationality (sure you can change your nationality but you cannot do away with the fact that you were born and bred in a certain country to parents of a certain nationality).
There are undoubtedly many people who’d argue that their nationality engenders a feeling of community membership. A German friend of mine for example, who has been living in London for over ten years, would certainly consider herself as belonging to a German community within London. So what differentiates me from her? Is community membership a matter of personal choice? Or am I just in denial? Do I actually belong to a German community in Reading without being aware of it?
I would argue that community membership above all requires a strong sense of belonging and a firm belief in shared values, both of which I lack in terms of my nationality. Hence community membership clearly seems to involve more than just having something in common with others, be that nationality, sexuality, or ethnicity. Considering this it would be interesting to see how many heterosexuals as opposed to homosexuals identify themselves as being part of a community in relation to their sexuality.
Funnily enough, I wouldn’t deny being part of a particular type of village community relating to the street that I used to live in for most of my life and that I still return to when visiting my family. Membership of this street community usually involves get-togethers, such as an annual street party in the summer, birthday parties, barbecues, dinner parties, or coffee parties. Unlike with my friends, I barely stay in touch with my fellow street community members unless I go back to stay with my parents and one of the get-togethers is taking place at the time. This didn’t stop one of the members from inviting me to her wedding in April next year, which I’m planning to attend.
Is my feeling part of such a community but rarely getting involved enough though? Can I still count myself as a member of such a community even though I am now living miles away from the street that connects these people?
Community membership here also seems to be based upon mutual support, a lot like Rheingold’s notion of a gift economy. You know you can rely on the other members to help you out if necessary without being expected to give something in return.
This is similar to what I believe I experience as part of being a football supporter. Although admittedly mutual understanding would perhaps be a better term to describe the feeling. I therefore consider myself as being part of a football supporting community, both on a club level and on an international level. Strangely enough however I don’t feel as though I belong to any kind of student community despite sharing the same experiences and feelings with many other students. Maybe there is more to it than merely mutual understanding?
I also don’t feel part of any virtual communities even though I have a Facebook and Studivz account. Why? I don’t know. I guess I use these social networking sites as a means of communicating and staying in touch with people I rarely see (mostly because they live abroad and I can’t afford speaking to them on the phone) rather than anything else. Using the telephone as a means of communication doesn’t necessarily mean I belong to a telephone community, or does it?
I will bring this entry to an end now as brooding over the concept of community seems to leave me even more confused in trying to establish what constitutes a community. I hope that researching our group project will help me resolve this confusion.
I think after Monday’s lecture and discussion, we can all agree that the concept of ‘community’ is a very complex one. I, for my part, don’t believe it is possible to come up with one universal definition for ‘community’.
Nonetheless, I realized that I seem to have a very clear perception of whether or not I’m a member of certain (what are usually referred to as) communities without any apparent or rational reason.
The concept of ‘community’ seems to be closely connected with the concept of commonality. One’s belonging to a community might thus be determined geographically for example, that is according to one’s shared nationality, birthplace and/ or one’s shared place of residence.
Accordingly, I would have to class myself as being a member of the German community in Reading (if there is such a thing), which I don’t. In fact, I don’t consider myself as belonging to any community in connection with being German (or living in Reading) at all. I believe that nationality is more or less irrelevant in terms of community membership, probably because you can’t really choose your nationality (sure you can change your nationality but you cannot do away with the fact that you were born and bred in a certain country to parents of a certain nationality).
There are undoubtedly many people who’d argue that their nationality engenders a feeling of community membership. A German friend of mine for example, who has been living in London for over ten years, would certainly consider herself as belonging to a German community within London. So what differentiates me from her? Is community membership a matter of personal choice? Or am I just in denial? Do I actually belong to a German community in Reading without being aware of it?
I would argue that community membership above all requires a strong sense of belonging and a firm belief in shared values, both of which I lack in terms of my nationality. Hence community membership clearly seems to involve more than just having something in common with others, be that nationality, sexuality, or ethnicity. Considering this it would be interesting to see how many heterosexuals as opposed to homosexuals identify themselves as being part of a community in relation to their sexuality.
Funnily enough, I wouldn’t deny being part of a particular type of village community relating to the street that I used to live in for most of my life and that I still return to when visiting my family. Membership of this street community usually involves get-togethers, such as an annual street party in the summer, birthday parties, barbecues, dinner parties, or coffee parties. Unlike with my friends, I barely stay in touch with my fellow street community members unless I go back to stay with my parents and one of the get-togethers is taking place at the time. This didn’t stop one of the members from inviting me to her wedding in April next year, which I’m planning to attend.
Is my feeling part of such a community but rarely getting involved enough though? Can I still count myself as a member of such a community even though I am now living miles away from the street that connects these people?
Community membership here also seems to be based upon mutual support, a lot like Rheingold’s notion of a gift economy. You know you can rely on the other members to help you out if necessary without being expected to give something in return.
This is similar to what I believe I experience as part of being a football supporter. Although admittedly mutual understanding would perhaps be a better term to describe the feeling. I therefore consider myself as being part of a football supporting community, both on a club level and on an international level. Strangely enough however I don’t feel as though I belong to any kind of student community despite sharing the same experiences and feelings with many other students. Maybe there is more to it than merely mutual understanding?
I also don’t feel part of any virtual communities even though I have a Facebook and Studivz account. Why? I don’t know. I guess I use these social networking sites as a means of communicating and staying in touch with people I rarely see (mostly because they live abroad and I can’t afford speaking to them on the phone) rather than anything else. Using the telephone as a means of communication doesn’t necessarily mean I belong to a telephone community, or does it?
I will bring this entry to an end now as brooding over the concept of community seems to leave me even more confused in trying to establish what constitutes a community. I hope that researching our group project will help me resolve this confusion.
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