on community

The term "community" in and of itself is a malleable brand of sorts; from its literal meaning as a group or gathering of people to its broader meaning as a group or gathering of ideas, it simply implies commonality whose aim tends to be one of improvement (whether it be in terms of communication, relationship-building, artistic/ intellectual stimulation, etc). A colleague of mine recently recommended exchanging the term "community" for "tribe" – which seems to be the new "it" term in the social media marketing current, which to me ignites more of an exclusive air- potentially genius for marketing products or services but rather isolated when working toward an idea of community development.

 

Moving from a raging metropolis to a small rural island in the middle of the pacific rim has taught me a thing or two about the nature of community- and just how many communities we are linked to in every aspect of our life. By stepping outside of the everyday and into a place completely unknown, we're somewhat forced to stop and analyze our present situation. One of the toughest lessons I've learned is that it's relatively impossible to sustain a community you are not linked to on a personal (read: in-person), regular basis. Sure, this facebook/ flickr/ blogger/ twitter business has helped me reacquaint myself with countless connections that would have simply dwindled without the fascinating little e-communicados, but as you begin to lose the little, everyday, completely unplanned aspects of a relationship, sustenance becomes more of a challenge, regardless of the caliber of thought or genius that come of the modes of exchange.