online communities…are they real?

I happen to live in an intentional community on Martha’s Vineyard. Maybe you’ve heard of co-housing? Basically, a group of people decided to build a neighborhood with both shared and private space…and work together to make it tick. There are 16 houses in my community, and we each own our own house and the 1/4 acre surrounding it. We share acres of land, a garden and pond and a huge community, or ‘common’, house – amongst other things, like governance.

There are fun things to do here at Island Co-housing (potlucks, pick-up frisbee games, a swimming pond) and not so much fun things to do (cleaning the common spaces, cutting down trees that the caterpillars killed, paying the assessment fees). There are people that I love and enjoying seeing, and there are people that I love not so much and would rather not see.

When you put a group of people together, you are bound to have differing opinions, lifestyles and choices, conflicting behaviors and more…and we do – but none of them have been detrimental as of yet.

As I engage on a deeper and deeper level in online communities like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Stumble Upon, Twitter Moms and Mom Bloggers Club, I’ve been asking myself just how my real life community compares with my online community.

The differences are pretty clear:

1. No one online sees me clad in my pj’s chasing after my dogs and toddlers. The real-life community does, often.
2. The online community is corporately created and participants are handed rules and how-to’s. The real-life community has had to create this roadmap by consensus (blood, sweat and tears).
3. Online community is free. The real-life community is not, even close.
4. I can separate myself easily from people I don’t wish to communicate with online by being invisible. Unless I hide in my house, that’s a bit harder to come by in real life (though not impossible).

And, how are they similar?

1. In order to work, both sets of community members need to play by the rules, they need to treat fellow members with respect, they need give and take on at least an equal scale – but things will work best if everyone gives more.
2. The personal is political and the political is personal in both places, these days especially.
3. I have found angels and assholes in both forums.
4. The possibilities for each community are endless and my urge to participate is addictive and passionate.

I could go on and on with these lists, but in the end, there is one point about both of these communities that really seals the deal for me. And it affirmatively answers the title question. My real-life community and my online community both make me feel connected.

…and isn’t that the point?

Filed under Networking, Social Media | Tags: copywriter, copywriting, freelance copywriter, online communities, social media, social networking | Comments (11)

the power of MOM

I know that moms are powerful. I am one, I have one, I’m married to (the best) one, I’m surrounded by many in the real world and the web world. But, still I’m blown away by what moms are doing on the internet.

I will not attempt to cover all of the phenom moms that exist in the world within this post…I’m just going to highlight a few that are on my current radar screen:

Twitter Moms Moms who tweet: find, follow, lead, learn, love and share. Megan Calhoun started a social network, oh, a few weeks ago for moms on Twitter. Over 1,800 (and growing at a rapid pace) moms have joined in that time – forming groups, supporting each other’s lives and businesses, networking, laughing. Amazing. One of the most entertaining functions: #GNO, or Girls’ Night Out – an online tweet meet. If you’re a mom and you tweet, you must check it out. Follow Megan on Twitter @twittermoms.

Mom Bloggers Club Jennifer James supports the mom bloggers of the world with her social network. Over 1,800 moms meet up with the common connection of blogging. Conversations are alive and well via many groups and the site runs sweet giveaways. Jennifer also runs The Mom Salon which is a comprehensive catalog of mom bloggers…submit your blog today and get listed in the soon to be realeased, revamped directory. Follow Jennifer on Twitter @mombloggersclub.

Jessica Smith hails from Wishpot, Jessica Knows (her blog) and Chief Mom Officer.org. Honestly, she does so many things, it’s hard to keep track. But, after being hired as the Chief Mom Officer (CMO) for Wishpot (a very mom-style shopping/search/cart), she created Chief Mom Officer.org to help companies attain and leverage the untapped professional experience of mothers to build their businesses – how smart is that. Follow Jessica on Twitter @JessicaKnows.

The MOMocrats blog was started by Stefania Pomponi Butler, Beth Blecherman, and Glennia Campbell because, as mothers, they wanted to participate in and influence the 2008 presidential campaign. Their tagline: Rage against the McCain. MOMocrats is a serious political force doing incredible grassroots work online and in the world – it’s where moms get political (and don’t you all know that this mom is all over that!). Yesterday, Michelle Obama guest blogged, how’s that for going to the top political mom? Follow MOMocrats on Twitter @momocrats.

I could go on and on and on…but I’ll save some other cool moms for another post. If you take the time to peruse these women’s sites and accomplishments, you’ll be busy for days and thank me for not adding more.

Bottomline: these women are powerhouses, they have grabbed the internet by the horns and demonstrated gumption, creativity and kindness. That’s right, kindness – these are good people, righteous moms.

Filed under Networking, News, Politics | Tags: Jennifer James, Jessica Knows, Jessica Smith, Megan Calhoun, Michelle Obama, Mom Bloggers Club, mommy bloggers, MOMocrats, online communities, Politics, The Mom Salon, Twitter, twittermoms, Wishpot, women bloggers | Comments (15)