subject: Business Networking Groups and the shifting definition of ‘community' [print this page] Business Networking Groups and the shifting definition of community'
Communities, as we all know them, are made of strong stuff. They're built over hundreds, sometimes thousands of years and the traditions and values that are embedded within them, make them virtually impossible to break. So is it possible to recreate these communities with online business networking groups?
I live in Farnham, Surrey, and its history goes back to the 7th Century, Saxon times. The Castle that over looks the town was built in the 12th Century, the local school was founded in 1585, and today the people in Farnham feel familiar to me. Even if I don't know everyone in Farnham, we have a bond, so that if I met them anywhere in the world we would feel connected.
The same connection is the crucial ingredient of online Business Networking Groups and online communities, and as you approach your chosen network consider yourself and consider the atmosphere of the place you are spending your time in. Is your community and the people within it focused, or are you just visiting them to achieve some fun and to solve a particular need?
Perhaps you could achieve a great deal more if you contributed and started to treat online Business Networking Groups as 'home' and treated your fellow members as friends.
New Cities spring up all around Britain, like anywhere in the world. Milton Keynes and Basingstoke, while also steeped in history were exploded in the 1960's by investment. The town of Basingstoke and Milton Keynes were put on steroids and the opportunity for community to be created was lost. Community cannot be created backwards. Community is built person by person. And, Business Networking Groups are created member by member not dollar by dollar. The new towns that spring up may be great to visit, they may have the best facilities, but do you have a sense of 'belonging' to them, or are they just 'useful' to you.
In a world where people are isolated, scared and in need of security, perhaps being a friend is the killer app' for business' and perhaps you will find that everyone has their vulnerabilities and their fears and by working together we can actually feed ourselves by feeding others.
