| In this book, you've gotten an overview of what's happening
in Web communities circa 2000. But the Internet is a dynamic and rapidly
evolving environment, and Web communities will look and operate quite differently
in 2001, and even more so in 2010. In fact, I bet that by then people won’t
even speak of "Web communities" any more—the ubiquity and bandwidth of
online communications and the standardization of online protocols will
make the Web as pervasive as the telephone or television. We'll come to
view online communities less as isolated destinations and more as just
another way to meet people, stay in touch with loved ones, and conduct
the daily business of life. We won’t distinguish them from the other communities
we belong to any more than we feel compelled to add “on the phone” when
we say we spoke to our mother last night.
This process is already happening. Many towns, schools, families, and colleagues routinely use the Web to the stay in touch and share information; and numerous support groups, hobby clubs, social committees, and gaming clans coalesce online and then hear each other's voices, share photos and videos, and make plans for face-to-face meetings. So what does this evolution mean for you as an online community builder? Not only will you need to continue to leverage the unique properties of the Web, but it will become more important than ever to understand the social and cultural aspects of your craft. This book begins to address these issues, but this field is very young and filled with unanswered questions. In the coming years, we'll see many more books, articles, stories, and examples for us all of to learn from—some of which will be created by you. To thrive as a twenty-first-century community builder, you'll want to be on the lookout for opportunities to blur the boundary between the physical and the virtual, because that's where the action is and where the Net is headed. This could mean bringing existing groups online, facilitating face-to-face meetings among your members, integrating commerce and communications systems, or creating specialized role-playing environments. Whatever you do, remember that the true power of communities—whether on or off the Web—lies in their power to affect people's physical, emotional, spiritual, and professional lives in a meaningful way. The more your community accomplishes this, the more successful you'll be.
<< BACK NEXT >> |