What is community?

What is a community? Well, I compared a network with a community last week. I thought I knew what community meant. But, now that I try to explain it, it is just hard…

Google shows the following two definitions.

1.      a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

"Rhode Island's Japanese community"

2.      a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. "the sense of community that organized religion can provide"

Yes, a community can be defined as a group of people who share common interests, norms, and goals…Additionally, a sense of trust, belonging, safety, and caring for each other (https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_is_community_anyway). So, if we use the same hashtag on Twitter or Instagram, are we in the same community? Hmm…We may have the same interests and share the same norms (somewhat vague, though) related to social media. But, do we have the same goal? A sense of trust and belonging? Maybe not yet…but someday when it is the right time…Yes, it is a latent community until then…

Well, I decided to join two existing communities inside Google+ for 2 weeks. One for violin and the other for Educational Technology. Let’s see if I can find some characteristics of community within these two communities.