Coming from the perspective of both a technology person working on international peace-building campaigns and a professor teaching a video-conferenced course entitled “Globalizing Social Activism and Information Technology,” I have been concerned both practically and theoretically with what it means to build community. Community in a connected world all too often means a broad range of connections with questionable depth. While information technology has enabled transnational networks of activists to build campaigns that would have been unimaginable before 1990 – the International Committee to Ban Landmines, the anti-MAI campaigns, and the Zapatistas just to mention the most famous – the experience of many activists and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is that they are talking with a wider range of people, but having less success in mobilizing in their own local areas. While local activism and global connectivity are not necessarily contradictory, many organizations have experienced this dilemma in trying to determine how to allocate their resources and how to be accountable to multiple constituencies.

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If you have some time, check out the webcast of Jan. 27th’s Web 2.0 session from the World Economic Forum, called “How Web 2.0 will mould the future.” The panelists focused on social networking and some discussion of the emerging 3D avatar worlds like Second Life and World of Warcraft. . .

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Congratulations to Steve Yelvington for being named 2007 Online Innovator of the Year by the Newspaper Association of America.

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The modern world powered by technology has drastically altered our traditional understanding of what a community is. However, in a shift from physical to the virtual, the term “community” has retained its validity, contrary to the gloomy predictions of doomsayers terrified by the atomization of individuals and the disaggregation of communities that never happened. Instead, many new communities sprung up to take advantage of the wealth of information that became available thanks to the Internet. And although “bowling alone” has often morphed into “blogging alone,” the latter manages to amplify and stimulate a truly global conversation in unprecedented ways.

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In my opinion, a community in a connected world is a group of people who effect collective actions through active participation and communication. Generally, communities in an unconnected world are not created and maintained through voluntary participation; families, friends and colleagues are representative examples of communities in the unconnected world. Compared to the unconnected world, the connected world enables people to share ideas and information without limitations of speed or space. As a result, numerous communities are created based on participation of people who share common interests. Furthermore, the network infrastructure enables the communities to dynamically evolve through active communication. Through voluntary participation and active communication, communities in the connected world can grow dynamically, can strengthen their solidarity, and can create collective actions.

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