A Community or a Club?

What does “community” mean? Facebook calls its billions of users a community, and multinational brands use this word to refer to their customers. Are these communities in any meaningful sense? What about the “brand communities” I mentioned earlier, do these qualify? And can a community that is paid truly be called a community at all? As paid commun... See more

Within such virtual spaces, “community” is a shorthand for interaction — not necessarily belonging. From a business standpoint, community is a means to harness customer loyalty.

Communities naturally drum up hype for a brand and its products; in some instances, members might even provide feedback for product development and are the first to test new... See more

Communication creates community. The way we communicate forms the types of communities we form: communities where the highest good sought is great entertainment and prestige (“he prepares for those podcasts like none other, and asks banger questions!”) or communities oriented toward the truth and encounters with the real.

While country clubs are out of reach to most people, the internet (being the great equalizer that it is) has enabled many kinds of affordable yet valuable communities to spring up.

Community is more than just a feeling of belonging. In the context of business, it’s a structure for creating value. A simple way to understand it is to compare “community” to an “audience.”