The Online community myth: January 26, 1998 issue of New Thinking

January 26, 1998 New Thinking:
The online community myth

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January 26, 1998

The online community myth

By Gerry McGovern

‘Communities’ is one of the most abused words today. I know I have abused it and I have seen it belted all over the place, slapped, punched, kicked and beaten into sentences where it simply just doesn’t belong.

Because last night it struck me that the phrase ‘online communities’ is something of an oxymoron. In other words, it doesn’t make much sense.

The last 20-30 years have been bad for communities (certainly in the ‘Western World’). Look around you and most of you will see communities slowly dissolving or rapidly falling apart. I know that that is the case in Ireland anyway, and if it’s happening in Ireland then that must surely say something, because Ireland historically has had an incredible community focus and spirit.

The Internet by itself is not going to stop that dissolution. If anything, it may speed it up! Because the Internet takes you away from your community.

Oh, we have all these ‘online communities.’ How many of them are no more than clubs, gangs or associations? Hand on heart, would you die defending your online community? Would you pay taxes to support its growth? Because, let’s face it, if you’re not willing to put your hand in your pocket for something then that says a lot about your bottom-line feeling towards it.

I’m not saying here that you can’t create online communities. What I am saying is that genuine communities take years to evolve and they require genuine long-term commitment and hard, hard work from their participants.

Many of what are called online communities are fickle things, that demand little or no allegiance or commitment from their members. They are paper communities, ready to fall apart at the first puff from some big bad wolf.

Brands are like communities and brands are facing major challenges on the Internet. Companies may be able to save on distribution and packaging for certain products, but I believe that they will have major cost centers with regard to developing systems that manage the relationship between the company and customer.

Brand loyalty is a complex equation and brand loyalty online will have to meet major challenges. Last week I may have been loyal to my local bookstore and music shop. But with cheaper prices and more convenience being offered by Amazon and CDNow, how long will that loyalty remain? I’ve always banked with my local bank, but if a Dutch or American bank offers me significantly better service for my online account, won’t that loyalty be stretched?

The Internet is really a fickle place where we are on first name terms with everybody and close to very few. Sure, some new friendships are being made as the old neighborhoods creak under the pressure of modern living. But it takes more than a group of web pages, chat forums and discussion groups to make a community. It takes time; something very few of us either can, or are prepared to, give much of these days.

Gerry McGovern

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The Internet is really a fickle place where we are on first name terms with everybody and close to very few.