1: a unified body of individuals: as a: state commonwealth b: the people with common interests living in a particular area; broadly : the area itselfc: an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location d: a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society e: a group linked by a common policy f: a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests g: a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society
I am part of a lot of different communities. I am part of a military community. I am part of a church community, and a school community (2 different schools for my children...will be 3 schools next year), plus several different communities online. I am part of the military community online, and a separate community of parents, and several specialized groups.
In each of those groups, people know different sides of me. Rarely do any of these people in the different communities know ALL there is to know about me. The draw of the online community is the ease of communications, with relative anonymity, and the ease of finding a community of likeminded people. The downside is that communicating emotion and tone of voice is very difficult....and people end up getting their feelings hurt.
So, what kind of communities are you part of? What draws you to YOUR communities? What are the positives of each different type of community? What about the negatives?
I, too, am a member of many different types of communities, and most of them don't know every side of me. I would say that the community that knows "most" of me is the blog community. I am completely myself there. I am a tamer version of myself at work, around the children's school, and even with family.
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