(This is part of the roots of the revolution series.)

Since the end of World War II, traditional communities have been breaking down, and virtual communities have been rising up to replace them. Even before the internet, communities of interest such as Star Trek fans and Grateful Dead afficionados have made a name for themselves.

These special interest communities differed from traditional communities in that they were looser in structure, and had a stronger sense of passion.

The arrival of the internet allowed communities to connect, regardless of geography. Case study after case study shows the growing power of virtual communities, sometimes only in existence for a short time, to create social change.

Read more about virtual communities:
Seth Godin, Tribes
Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody
Avi Shankar, Bernard Cova, Robert Kozinets, Consumer Tribes

(Photo courtesy of David Orban)

What’s your favourite resource on virtual communities?

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In May 2009 I talked to some Otago University students about why social media is important – not just because it’s new technology, but because it’s a symptom and enabler of a massive social shift that’s happening.

Over the next few weeks I’ll delve into the roots of this revolution, but first it would pay to explain what this revolution actually is.

In the book “Dawn to Decadence“, historian Jacques Barzun defines a revolution as “the violent transfer of power and property in the name of an idea”. He goes on:

We have got into the habit of calling too many things revolutions. Given a new device or practice that changes our homely habits, we exclaim: “revolutionary!” But revolutions change more than personal habits or a widespread practice. They give culture a new face.

Is this a time of violent transfer of power and property? Are we in genuinely revolutionary times?

Just ask the newspaper industry. Or the movie industry. Or music, or TV. There’s violence (financially speaking), and there’s transfer of power and property. And not all the news is bad, either.

But is it just technology driving this? No. There are a whole bunch of factors that have brought us where we are today. Starting soon, we’ll examine them in-depth.

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