[Your expertise please?] Why do we all have a different answer for what community is, and why are they rarely grounded in any shared historical significance?
I'm writing a pretentious book right now called "The Ambiguity of Community; how we lost its purpose and finding its meaning again."
The thing about writing this book is that I've collected over 300 definitions for community from the academic, business, governing, and public literature all throughout history and I've discovered that it reads like an indictment on the industry now. I don't want to end it like that.
So, I would like to end the book with a full-scale social-scientific qualitative study on the definitions of community by and for real community managers. I think its important to discuss what it ACTUALLY means for us.
So long story short, can you just comment here - what is your formal oxford definition for community? We constantly say it's "a sense of belonging" but isn't that more of an output of community done well? we call emotional connection, a thing and we use "community of practice" like its the answer to all of the world's ills but what does it actually entail?
So that's my request, please post your definition below!
I'll point to this thread in the book if it gets enough posts to be statistically significant and I'll actually do a bonified social-scientific study on results.
I will start collating them on May 15th, and I need a LOT of them so I'm hoping to get this post to 500 if possible.