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Aspects of Relationships |
Human social activity is based on relationships. Walls
describes three primary aspects around which these relationships can be based:
the task-focused aspect, or the motive for engaging, the relationship aspect,
or the common group and the space sharing aspect, a common space in the players.
Individuals can interact when one or more of these aspects serve to connect
them. Walls gives the following potential combinations of aspects that bind
individuals into larger groups:
1. Shared space, ie urban next-door neighbors
2. Shared interest, ie social club members
3. Shared goals, ie task force members
4. Shared space and shared interests, ie community center participants
5. Shared space and shared goals, ie home-owners association members
6. Shared interests and shared goals, ie environmentalist society participants
7. Shared interests and shared space and shared space, ie agricultural coop
members
These scenarios refer to the primary relations that individuals have with each
other. These serve as the primary bonds that tie the resulting community together.
One could speculate about whether these form the links
of social capital. To analyze these relationships forming links, then, we
must evaluate how they occur. The obvious question in applying community theory
to IT is whether they are all valid online. Certainly common
interest is a common reason for forming relationships online, one upon which
many communities are based, such as support groups, diaspora
groups, or fan clubs, where everyone self-identifies as a member. The same
is true with shared goals: there are many online groupings that are devoted to
achieving some common goal, perhaps open source
code or a political movement. But how does one share space in a virtual world.
Wall argues that they share space because they use a common set of digital resources,
and that if you deny members access to those physical resources, they cannot access
those communities. Certainly one could take the idea of virtual communities a
step farther. Shared virtual space can be seen as equally valid as physical space.
Inside certain online realms, there can be safe spaces, personal spaces and spaces
where strangers are not welcome. In some online communities, strangers who do
not know the “rules” of the space are taken under the wing and shown
the ropes; in others, those who attempt to participate are ignored or flamed.
Allan Friedman
January, 2002