Among the Oxford English Dictionary definitions of “Community” is the following:

A body of people organized into a political, municipal, or social unity: such as members of a civil community, who have certain circumstances of nativity, religion, or pursuit, common to them, but not shared by those among whom they live.

“Community” and “society” are opposing concepts. We “join” communities. We are a “part” of a society. In a ‘community’ we bring our personal strengths to bear for the common good. In a ‘society’ individuality must be protected against the depersonalizing, anomizing process by which people are grouped together and ‘Wal-marted’ into indistinguishable simulacrums.

The postmodern reaction to the mass-produced, least common denominator impersonalization has been a proliferation of communities. As products have become such a central part of our lives we have seen the growth of “Brand Communities” such as the ones that have developed around Harley Davidson motorcycles and Macintosh Computers. As the Internet becomes the ultimate facilitator of interpersonal communication, “virtual communities”, whether product-related or not, have multiplied at an astonishing rate. (more…)