There are numerous communities present online, many of which are previously formed offline which expand its community in CMC. A community that I am apart of is the Alpha Xi Delta group on Facebook. Once Facebook started becoming really popular, AXD decided to make a group for our members to join with the hopes of expanding our network. I am affiliated with my chapter’s group as well as the national chapter’s group. “Actors”, according to Gemeinschaft, share a common purpose and focus and have strong interpersonal ties. To name a few, we have a common purpose and focus of being the best sister possible and contributing to society whether it’s raising money for a particular organization or volunteering our time to raise awareness about a certain cause. Another very important component is sharing a common language and identity. There are special songs, phrases, acronyms (for example TFJ), group events, and various other traditions which are only known by AXD sisters. And so, out group members are at a disadvantage. Members have strong interpersonal ties and CMC provides us with the opportunity to maintain, and sometimes even strengthen, those ties. For example, I recently transferred to Cornell and having an AXD Facebook group allows me to maintain strong ties with my close friends and stay updated with what’s new in their lives. However, with other girls whom I may not be so close with, those ties won’t be as strong as the frequency between us isn’t as significant.
In addition to the Gemeinschaft, SNA is used to examine how and what is exchanged and communicated between members in groups. “Who members talk to, to whom they give money, goods, and support to, and with whom do they attend social events” are all factors which is invested by SNA. Etzioni and Etzioni describe aspects of social network, common ground, and reciprocity to explain social capital. Similar to the Gemeinschaft, members share values, mores and meanings in addition to historical identity. Historical identity is something that plays a big part in uniting us members as one and solidifying us a sorority. Many traditions that are practiced and followed by any sorority, team groups, or what have you stem from the past and help to build and maintain uniqueness and exclusivity. Every single member is committed to the principles and ideals of the sorority, which is another characteristic described by Etzioni and Etzioni’s common ground. The social network component encompasses the web, relationships, and bonding. CMC allows existing friendships to develop and grow in addition to bonding and making new friendships. There are endless opportunities made available by online spaces and this is why it’s deemed to be another version of a “community”. Lastly, reciprocity among members is high as we are there to reinforce one another’s thoughts and actions.
CMC helps to with the development and growth of the AXD community. People are able to maintain friendships and stay connected across great distances. Also, other chapters are able to connect via Facebook groups to share ideas, stories, and just to embrace the sisterly bond.
http://comm245yellow.blogspot.com/2007/10/assignmnt-7-option-1-grk-life.html
http://comm245yellow.blogspot.com/2007/10/71-family-as-community.html
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2 comments:
Dear Meghan,
Great post! I liked how you applied the concepts from Haythornthwaite to your sorority community, both in CMC and FtF. I am sure that now you are in a new school, the emphasis on CMC, in the form of the AXD facebook group, is even more important. I thought you could have elaborated more on the topic of reciprocity and how you can reinforce thoughts and actions both in FtF and CMC. Overall, I was very impressed with your use of terms and definitions. Good job!
I like your post a lot. When trying to come up with an idea I definitely considered a fraternity related concept. There really is a huge connection between people in a community like that and the ties are very strong. I think probably the largest point you touched upon was the aspect of history. History places a huge role in maintaining the Gemeinschaft. By passing on traditions and ties between people, the community is continued. Especially for sororities, I find they place a lot of value on passing things on to their “little”. This can definitely happen online as well because it allows a strong connection with past members who have left.
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