Technology is not community
Congratulations to Connie Crosby and Eden Spodek on launching a great new podcast, Community Divas. The show explores the role and dynamics of community with an apparent focus on social media.
Connie and Eden jumped off the ropes swinging by releasing a great two-part discussion with Jay Moonah. How they limited him to just two episodes is beyond me, and I mean that positively — because Jay has a million insightful ideas, he’s energetic and most importantly, speaks eloquently — not because there’s a running joke that Jay talks a lot.
There was a fleeting moment during which Connie and Eden recognized that some people refer to web services and their verbifed names such as Twitter, Facebook, Ning, MySpace, etc… as community.
Consider that web communication services are tools just like a telephone; they’re widgets that enable people to connect. And like widgets, their appeal cycle is far less permanent than their purpose cycle. That is, if a new tool emerges with a fresh look, improved interface and simpler API, people will flock, en-masse, to the new tool. The constant migration of the community from one tool to the next, and the effort to re-establish itself in a new location is more like changing your bank account to start fresh than flying south to avoid the cold of winter (although, now that I’ve written that I realize there are strong parallels with both).
If the tool really was the community, we would no longer have any connection or way to connect with others in that community when the tool collapsed.
Be sure to follow the discussion over at Community Divas.
I enlisted the help of some friends to share experiences and ideas related to conference and unconference organizing. The hope is to kick off a conversation in which everyone — conference organizers, sponsors, participants, vendors, etc… — contributes and makes future events more smooth, successful and creative.
