The era of “digital habitats”

Countless groups of every imaginable flavour, size and shape interact on-line every day and use plethora of different technologies and tools. Yes, we are officially living in the era of “digital habitats”. And as this is a short inside on how I got to learn more about them, do not be surprised by a large number of interactive links to a variety of resources you can additionally look up as you read.

Few months ago, I took up the opportunity to become Community of Practice Facilitator for the Sauder d.studio, an exciting virtual and physical place where the design thinking meets business. I love business, creativity and interacting with people so it has been a perfect job so far. It was recommended to me to read the book: Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities, written by Etienne Wenger, Nancy White and John D. Smith. I have to say, it is a classic and a must read guide for anyone with the responsibility to chose, adapt and connect technology in order to best support their Community of Practice (CoP). But also an interesting read for anyone, who wants to be active among community.

You might be asking right now, what is up with this fancy CoP buzzword? Well, the definition I use at its simplest is: “group of practitioners who share a common interest“. More detailed and extensive description of CoP is just a click away on our beloved Wikipedia (which in my humble opinion is a perfect example of CoP itself – and it went truly world-wide). The CoP can be so complex and interactive that a graphic explanation also seemed appropriate:

The initial goal was to write a report about this book. The truth is that after finishing the book itself I did not want to just summarize its technological content as it opened my eyes to something completely different.

What absolutely took me by surprise was that as I was reading the book dedicated mostly to technology, I found myself checking out every little link provided in it and my knowledge suddenly embraced a completely new world of communities. I mean, we all know Twitter or Second Life but I was also introduced Slashdot (for geeks and nerds). I had no idea that people with Myeloproliferative disorders (MPD) have their own support group since 1994 (honestly, I did not even know what MPD was and in 1994 I was successfully ignoring the world as a teenager in fresh post-communist country with no access to PCs whatsoever). And there is also this Yi-Tan Technology Community with their weekly “conversations about change” since 2004.

The book itself can be analyzed and discussed at great length and I will return to some of its contents in my feature blogs. But basically, my main take was that the role of the CoP facilitator is to make sure that the community thrives, discusses and engages in conversations and has the opportunity to develop individually and as a group. As a facilitator, you are the on-line marketer. You are the person who should create the attractive environment, a kind of market that others interested in the topic want to join, expand and use. If you do not engage the community in discussion and serve as an engine there is no community. When assessing the needs of your community, you need to consider especially:

• readiness of your members for technology (some people might be resistant to anything beyond simple e-mail, some might be technology savvy),
• relationship with the community environment (open to the world or private?),
• technology infrastructure and of course,
• timeline and budget (there are so many platforms out there for free to grab or do you want sophisticated system which is tailor specifically to your needs?).

Chapter 10: Action notebook – was a golden source of tables and worksheets that just waited to be filled in to make my life easier. And I “abused” them thoroughly. And the little cherry on the cake was the glossary of terms at the end which defined the key technical terms. Now I know what AJAX or Folksonomy mean. And if you “clicked” you know it too because the explanation was just posted for you free of charge with one of many digital habitats.

Dear d.studio members, welcome to our community and let me know if you have any ideas on how we can thrive and excel and most of all, have great discussions.