Communities (W3)
In a traditional, physical sense, I would say that communities require people to personally know one another whereas networks do not require personal connections. Online "communities," however, complicate things. You can interact with someone for years without ever meeting them in person and still feel like you know them. But you don't know them...you only know that they share an interest with you.
So how should we distinguish these phenomena then? I think one way that could help us navigate this conversation is to think about shared purpose and reciprocity. LinkedIn, I would argue, is a network that links people together. Users are posting about the same material and using the same hashtags (for the most part). At least from my perspective, there's no real interaction or shared goal besides visibility or affiliation. To me, LinkedIn seems more like a broadcast system than a true community.
Communities, both online and physical, have a sense of mutual engagement. Community members notice each other and build off one another's presence. They usually have boundaries (formally or informally). There's an in-group and an out-group. With online communities, though, things get more complicated. Communities swell in numbers and you can have thousands of people all tied to one interest. For example, one of my most frequented subreddits, r/leagueoflegends, has 8.1 million members.
I don't know about you, but I know I haven't met that many people in my life! So are we really a community? On most days, I’d say no. I lurk through posts, scan the esports threads, and skip the rest. It feels more like a massive crowd watching the same game than a community. Every so often, though, something shifts. A post taps into a shared experience. This could be a controversial patch note, a universally hated champion rework, or even a heartfelt story about how the game helped someone through a tough time. The usual replies in the thread aren't sarcastic or memes. They’re thoughtful, engaged, and personal. That’s when it feels like a community. Not because we all know each other, but because we're showing up to participate in something together.
Again, I think the key is remembering the shared purpose. Without it, interaction becomes noise. With it, even a single post can spark meaningful engagement for community members. Sure, there are online groups, platforms, and users using hashtags. But community isn't just about being there with similar-minded people; it's about being with each other. As we progress through this class (and online), I think an important thing to keep on asking isn't "Is this a community?" but rather, "What makes it feel like a community?"
So, 8.1 members is a lot. It makes me wonder what it means to be a member, and what it means to be an interactive member. Or even just an active one (lurking can be active). Are 8.1 people really on the subreddit on a semi-regular basis? Or a bunch of people click to join at one point and never bother to unjoin when it wasn't really their thing?
ReplyDeleteGreat question! Back in 2014/2015 there were more active members on the subreddit (and also less overall members). Today, however, League of Legends is not as popular as it once was. As such, the number of active users is way less. For reference, at the time of this comment, there were 2.7k members "active." This number picks up when regional games and international competitions are taking place. Vice versa, when it's the off-season (mid November - mid January), the number drops considerably.
ReplyDeleteYou make a great distinction with "interactive member" and "member." I think it's something that definitely applies to the Internet spaces like this subreddit, in that there's no way all members of this subreddit can interact with each other. I also think the "top 1% commenter" distinguishment plays into it too. These commenters get a badge so to speak, and people are going to be more likely to follow their posts and comments.