The whole understanding of connectedness changed with the advent of web 2.0 and social media. People became much more connected digitally than they had ever been. Coupled with this connection was a disconnection to the physical meat-space community. This is not a causal thing. Correlation is not causation. I think the physical world communities started breaking down before the online communities started up. I think the online communities started up to fill the void left by the abandonment of 3rd spaces and other communities. The creation of the online communities did not kill the real-space communities… but they didn’t keep them alive either.
So let’s get into some questions.
1: What does the word community mean to you? What communities do you consider yourself a member of?
A community is a collection of people who are connected by some characteristic and have generated some self organizing rules, mores and values surrounding that membership. I am an inadvertent member of a boatload of societal communities. All the communities associated with being a middle aged white CIS male dad of 2 in a blended family with 4 step-kids. I am also on some discord channels as well.
2: Is the audience at a midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show a community, a congregation, or a support group?
That is a congregation. Sometimes congregations can be communities, but often they are not. The Rocky Horror Picture Show has ritual and proselytizing. Definitely a religion.
3: Have you ever developed a genuine friendship with someone you met through an online community?
Of course. There are a handful of people I have never met in “real-life” that I consider to be true friends.
4: Can a community become so close-knit that it becomes unhealthy?
Does a bear shit in the woods?
5: If the residents of Sesame Street formed a homeowners association, who would be the president, and who would be the first to receive a violation notice?
I am unsure about the president, but Bert comes to mind. Oddly even with Bert being a board member and potentially the president of the HOA, Ernie would be the first violation notice… most likely for noise after hours.
6: Can you belong to a community without participating in it?
Yep. As I said, I “belong” to the middle-aged, heterosexual, white, male, CIS, married, divorced communities, but I don’t attend the meetings.
7: Which community would win in a fight: Trekkies, Swifties, Disney adults, or Renaissance faire enthusiasts?
Ren Fair. They are the only ones who have a sub-community that actively physically fights each other.
8: Have you ever deliberately left a community? What prompted your departure?
Yes, My childhood church in the Birmingham, AL area. Weirdly enough, most of the congregation stopped talking to me after I brought my non-white fiance to a wedding shower at the church. It was not received well in 1997, in Alabama. I walked away from them and haven’t turned my face towards their undead god of a death cult since then.
9: Is the crew of the USS Enterprise a community, a workplace, a family, or something else entirely?
They are a mother-fucking clique. There are 7 of them and that’s it. That is a ship of over 1000 crew and they only interact with the other 6 people (yes, there are some tertiary characters who sometimes join in but they are few and far between… Guinan, Barclay, and O’Brien are the only ones who show up “regularly” but are still not part of the clique). They a bunch of stuck up bitches (RIP Patrick Stewart).
10: Does every community need an outsider to help define who belongs?
I don’t think they need an “outsider” as in a defined “type of person,” as much as they need to have people who are members of the community and then others.
11: Have you watched Community? Crazy show, right?
Such a great show. It was a human live-action cartoon. Abed is such a card.
12: Can two people constitute a community, or is that just a relationship?
That is a relationship. It is not prescriptive as to what kind of relationship, but it is definitely a relationship.
13: Have you ever been part of an online community that disappeared? Do you miss it?
Ten Ton Studios… and art community that was just amazing. I miss it every day. (Some of the Ten Ton peeps have a kickstarter going on right now for a horror anthology. Give them some money!)
14: Does a cult count as a community? If so, what distinguishes a cult from an exceptionally enthusiastic book club?
A cult is definitely a kind of community. It is an unhealthy type to be sure, but it is a community. I think the major difference between an enthusiastic book club and a cult is that eventually the cult leader makes it a requirement that they get to boink everyone they want to, prior to the cult’s ultimate collapse and dissolution.
15: Have you ever experienced a moment when a crowd of complete strangers suddenly felt like a community?
There was one time in Chicago O’hare Airport when the weather was so bad, everything was getting delayed and delayed. The marooned passengers became a temporary community.
16: Are internet communities fundamentally different from meatspace communities, or is geography simply irrelevant?
Actual physical proximity is definitely a differentiator. There is a different kind of interaction model when people are in the same space. Aside from just the ability punch someone if they are being a jerk, there is also a better understanding of context, body language, and sarcasm. Those three things are very difficult to convey in a virtual space .
17: Can a community exist without its members realizing they're part of one?
There is a community of idiots in my life who do not realize they are in a community of idiots.
18: Why do communities built around loving something so frequently fracture over disagreements about that very thing?
We’re talking fandoms here, right? If there is one thing about being part of a fandom it is that you have to love it for the right reasons and love the right parts of it. No exceptions
19: Does a neighborhood actually constitute a community if nobody knows their neighbors?
Technically? Yes, but the heart is just not there.
20: Is there a difference between being in a community and belonging to one?
Of course. Being part of a community can happen to you. Gender, college, age bracket, etc… but belonging to a community is by choice. Discord channels, hiking groups, etc…
To recap:
Day 1 of the new primary job was today
Drinking out of a firehose of info
Sold my first 4 cheesecakes for the Institute for Applied Cheesecake Studies
Bougie Pumpkin (Burnt honey, pumpkin pie)
Strawberry Milkshske
Raspberry Lemonade
S’mores
Rave reviews
The bougie pumpkin, raspberry lemonade, and S’mores recipes are locked in
Need to modify the Strawberry Milkshake
It's close, but not quite there
I think I have a fix in place
This cheesecake stuff is fun
Tried out a different cheesecake yesterday that just did not work
The Institute for Applied Cheesecake Studies is not going to be 100% wins
The torn ligament in my left foot is angry
Transverse metatarsal ligament
My foot hurts so much right now
I need the steroids to reduce the swelling
Seriously, it hurts so much
Take care of your feet kids
I am gainfully employed
1st day was yesterday
Wooooooooooo
Do the thing on my Substack
Also read my kid’s first Substack post about voting in VA
Have a great week everyone