Haythornwaite studies the existence of online communities and the effect such lean media has on the richness of a community. To delve further into these issues, he uses Social Network Analysis (SNA) to examine the social capital of a group, or more specifically, the common ground, social networking, and reciprocity that exists within it.
An online “community” of which I am a part is a facebook group called “Abc.”* “Abc” stands for Art Beyond Cornell, which is a service organization in which Cornell students go to an all girls penitentiary in Lansing and do art therapy with the girls there. Essentially, the main purpose of the group is accomplished face to face (FtF), however an online group facilitates our mission and allows us to better coordinate.
Within the group we are bonded through the common ground we share. This includes a common cause, common talents, and common experiences. Haythornwaite describes this as a “basis of community of practice: mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire” (129).
Our online presence allows for expanded social networking in that FtF, in that members of the group are often separated from others on the basis of what car they go in to drive to Lansing or which unit at Lansing they work with. This causes subdivisions within the group, as members tend to gravitate towards those with whom they have the greatest contact/common ground. This further demonstrates that Haythornwaite’s theory stands even in the microcosms of subgroups within Abc. However, online the group is not broken into these subdivisions, and is portrayed as a cohesive whole, allowing for new channels of communication between “weak ties,” as well as strong ones.
Furthermore, social networking occurs in the online group in that members feel a sense of belonging. This is seen in the fact that members are willing to share contact information. This feeling of closeness ignites friendships that otherwise may not have had the opportunity to emerge. While to cynics, online group membership can look like forced friendship, the sincere nature of some of the relationships is evident in the posting of individual information to the group that may be of interest to members, but is not in line with the main purpose of the group. Such information may include information about art exhibitions, social justice events, activities of other members (i.e. one member sings and plays guitar and invites members to hear her perform), and other activities branching out from the initial cause. Additionally, there is a tinge of pride at being in the online group due to its ambiguous nature. There is no description of the acronym or what the group is about (except the illusory quote: “We go to Lansing, we do art, we work with some amazing girls...”). The posted pictures also add to this mysterious aura in that they’re almost indistinguishable, often being abstract works by the girls at Lansing (see above)
With regard to reciprocity within the online community, the facebook group enables members to be individually responsible for the courtesy of informing the group of if and when they will not be able to attend. Also, the wall posts allow for suggestions for lesson plans, as well as group news. Since girls take turns coming up with lessons, this illustrates how a technologically mediated channel allows for reciprocity of members. Etzioni and Etzioni emphasized that such members “require measure of commitment and set of shared values, morals, meanings, and shared historical identity (129).”
Art Beyond Cornell uses other lean media, such as a listserv and email, to communicate. Since Art Beyond Cornell is primarily a FtF group, meetings outside of actually visiting Lansing allow members to brainstorm lesson plans, talk about what’s working and what isn’t, as well as the goals of the group. There is definitely a clear correspondence between the online-offline synergy of Art Beyond Cornell, where the lean media is a tool for the actual group to be more efficient and coordinated.
* http://cornell.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2200526900
Comments:
* http://cornell.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2200526900
Comments:
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5400576841210402935&postID=7987382732157326011
http://comm245brown.blogspot.com/2007/10/72-hot-friends-can-only-make-you-look.html
2 comments:
ABC sounds like a really really fascinating group, I didn't even know it exists.
I assume you didn't know everyone in the group before you joined; have you learned more about members from your ftf interactions or cmc?
Okay, now that I finished reading the post, I'm angry that I stopped halfway through to look up the group on facebook... oh well. I have to agree with the previous comment and say that I had never heard of ABC, but it sounds pretty rad. The post was also good because you clearly explained the different parts of your online (and offline) community, and how CMC affected it. I was also surprised by how much interaction you said there was in the facebook group. It's pretty cool that someone would invite everyone on a facebook group to her singing/guitar performance.
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