How do we measure the performance and the success of a community? Is it the number of members? Is it how often people participate in events? Does it depend on what kind of activity the community is focused on?
In the world of the virtual, community success seems to be measured in many ways. One way is to focus on the number of people being members. This is usually how community networks are measured and compared. It can either be in absolute numbers or in percentage of the whole population in the specific location. Another way is to measure the activity. This can be done by counting people connecting or visiting a website or the emails sent to a listserver or to discussion groups. In this position paper I will discuss what community activity means and how technology can be related to it.
First I want to make a simple distinction between virtual communities (based on specific interests) and community networks (when people belong to the same geographical area). Today it is easy to find virtual communities with a very high degree of activity – no matter how we measure it. It seems as if the technology enables interest based communities to thrive and evolve.
When it comes to community networks I have the impression that a lot of people today are disappointed with how these networks function. I will intuitively argue that information technology can indeed be valuable in community work, but we have to have reasonable expectations of what activity means in such a network.
I live in a small Swedish village with only 150 inhabitants. I have lived here for about 18 years. It takes me about 15 minute’s get to the university where I work. My village is a small community with a long history. When you move here it is difficult to be accepted as a real member of the community (unless, of course, you are a close relative to one the traditional families in the village). Still, after ten years you may be considered to be a newcomer to the community.
What it means to live in a village like this and to be part of a community like this is not easy to describe or to value. But there are some aspects of this community that I find important. First of all, a community in a village is not all good or all bad. It can be terrible or wonderful. You can feel trapped by the closeness of the community or happy to belong to it. When I chose to live in this village it was not because I wanted to be part of this specific community. We moved here because of the house we live in. But whatever reason you have to move here – you will be a member of the village community. Everybody knows that you live here. Everybody knows if you participate or not in the community activities.
In our village we have an organization that takes care of our common activities and also the old village school building. The building is no longer a school, instead it is the place for meetings, evening courses, parties, etc. We have three major events every year: the spring celebration, the summer fest, and the Christmas celebration. The village is divided into three groups – each responsible for one event per year. We also have around three or four smaller activities a year, for instance when we clean the school building, takes care of our ski trails, etc. Sometimes the organization arranges special activities. A couple of years ago we jointly produced a book on the history of the village. The book also contains pictures of all buildings in the village with the people living in them in front of their houses. Every house is presented with its history, earlier owners, special characteristics, etc.
I think that our community is an example of a very good community. It creates a feeling of belonging. It gives some pride to the people living here. It takes care of all things in the village that are commonly owned.
So, what is the point of this personal reflection? Even if I consider our community as a good community with a lot of activities, the amount of time that I as an individual member devotes to community activities is very low. This is not because I do not participate or care. I do participate and I have also been in the board of the organization. Instead it seems as if the community activities does not demand a lot of time. The board meets three to four times a year. All other members are supposed to take part in the arrangement of one of the celebrations and maybe some of the other smaller activities.
The information system that makes this community work is very simple. There is a list of all inhabitants, divided into working groups. This list is sent out once a year. We get a note in our mailbox maybe four times a year with announcements of the time and place for activities. These notes are sent out by the responsible working group.
If we measure the success of our community by what we accomplish I think most people would rate it as an active and successful community. If the activity was measured by the amount of information flows – the community would probably be rated as almost non existing.
This might lead to several different conclusions. First of all, the example really makes the question of the activity of a community complex. It seems to be important to realize that very little information and information flows are necessary to create a lot of community actions. It is also evident that a community with established routines do not really communicate on a frequent basis. But there are exceptions. When our community faces something new or threatening the activity can rise to a very high level, with a lot of information in form of letters, notes, brochures, meetings, discussions, etc. This high level of activity appears only in very special occasions and is always triggered by a unique situation. In our community, this has happened around four times since I moved here, i.e. four times in 18 years.
My overall conclusion from my personal experience is that a community can be very successful without being very “active”. It is important to reflect on what community activity means and what is normal.
It is not relevant to compare the rise and development of virtual communities with community networks. In a virtual community people voluntarily participates because the community will contribute to their very special personal interests. A community based on locality is something you belong to. You can chose not to be active, but you always belong to it.
I am convinced that our small and well functioning village community could benefit from what the new technology offer. With a community network in place, the community will be able to react and act in a completely different way in the situations where there is a need for high activity.
Maybe this can lead to a more general conclusion (or at least hypothesis) that if we want to use technology to support democratic actions and civic activity we can not expect to be able to measure success in a simple and immediate way. The technology must be in place and must be a part of people’s everyday activities if it will be used in times when citizen activity is needed or expected.