Are you building Communities or Networks?
In the intranet domain we often talk about why we need to establish virtual communities. These conversations sometimes use a loose definition of communities. In an effort to further the discourse, below is a definition of communities and how they differ from networks.
This comes from Barry Wellman at the University of Toronto who says, ” Communities are networks of interpersonal ties that provide sociability, support, information, a sense of belonging and social identity.” In contrast to this, as Manuel Castells has explained in The Internet Galaxy, networks are built by the choices and strategies of social actors, be it individuals, families or social groups.
Organizations have networks formed by people, groups and departments in support of specific business ends. Depending upon their importance to themselves or the organization as a whole, these networks are nutured and supported either proactively or passively. In contrast to this, communities are less about choices and strategies and more about interpersonal ties that provide social benefits more than business ones.
And that’s exactly why, virtual communities in many organizations fail. Employers and intranet designers pay too much attention to the business objectives and ignore the importance of creating the shared values that are needed for a social organization. Online communities whether internal or those centered around customers can be of incredible help to companies. But for them to succeed it is important to give them time to evolve in a sociological sense.
