What is Community?

I’ve been thinking about what Community means.

I spend a lot of time online (sadly) and I have spent a great deal of time (too much time, actually) developing and building online communities… or so I thoug[ht. In fact, I now believe strongly that you should spend as much as 10x the time you spend making online friends in connecting with real-life humans.  This might be a good reason why.]

To me, I belive there may be a few requirements that make a difference between just “people you know” and “Community”.

1. Investment: People in the community feel ownership, likely because something is on the line if they don’t… like property values, their children’s education, social benefits, etc.
2. Emotional Connection: This means you actually care (or something that approximates human caring).  You can notice this when you can’t be a part of the community, you feel like you’ve missed out.
3. Sacrifice: When someone else in the community needs help, you’re willing to put aside your own self-interest for the benefit of others… because you know they’d do the same for you.

That’s my list… what’s yours?