Communities as bases

When, where and why?

I write this initial version for this month’s indieweb carnival, but I’m pretty sure I’ll add to it later. Thank you, Alex, for choosing the topic “Community and belonging”.

I have been interested in how communities function for a while, partly due to Twitter changing hands and many people in my neck of the bits discussing the loss of some of the social circles they were part of there. The main reason for my interest though, at least for the last year, has been the prospect of moving to another city for university after finishing my Bachelors degree. This has given me a sense of a coming disconnect between me and my current local communities, which in turn made my perception of them much more pronounced. The aforementioned degree also takes up a lot of time, which is why I only write this near the end of November and can’t take nearly as much time to work on this text as I would like right now.

So here’s an idea: People relate to communities they are a part of as bases. They do that in two different ways:

Communities as bases that people venture out from

Whether any one member wants to do something or it’s a group effort, helping each other out is often one of the core aspects of a community. From what I can tell, anytime some non-trivial effort actually works out, there has been some level of involvement by pre-existing networks.

Working together on something also has its worth for those involved. When people see something they collaborated on succeed, it builds a sense of self- and group-efficacy, i.e. a sense that they have the ability to effectively work on things (together) and influence their surroundings.

Communities as bases that people return to in order to rest and repose

On the other hand, often times what people want from their community is a space to just exist in. That usually means meeting up with little to no specific reason, to regain energy and/or just feel at home. In this way, people create refuges for themselves and others that can provide some much-needed balance in everyday life.

These kinds of spaces require a basic level of trust from the people participating in them. If everything works out, however, they provide a chance to deepen that trust and strengthen bonds within the community.

In which way do you belong to community X?

Both of these are a net positive for communities and their members, and they aren’t mutually exclusive, so everyone always wants both, right? Well, it’s not that straight forward. People always come together with different wants, needs and intentions. Sometimes just to get something done, other times without the energy to do anything much at all. There are, of course, infinite combination between these two extremes.

As is often the case in social settings, things get complicated because people coming from different circumstances need to find common ground. Especially when there are long-term discrepancies in what is expected in a group setting, there can be friction in how people relate to their communities.

Here are two short examples from my own experience that I think make for good examples of such a mismatch:

• An activist group that I considered joining had an extensive plan for common leisure activities. To me, that felt a little clingy, since I was just there to work together on our common goals.
• From time to time, when I want to go to the local pub with friends, there is a pub quiz or open stage event. Since that is way more activity than I would like, we find some other place to hang out and talk.

I have an inkling that what I described here is some well-known concept in sociology. If you happen to know what it’s called in proper terms, please feel free to tell me.