Assignment 7, Option 1

As a sophomore at Cornell, I have passed the initial adjustment phase from high school student to college student. In high school, I belonged to a number of extracurricular groups and activities, but at Cornell, I spent my first year focusing on my academics and forming social relationships. Since I established myself in both of these areas, I began the year looking to join other Cornell activities. Nostalgic for the old days of high school musicals and chorus concerts, this year I joined an all-female a capella singing group, The Touchtones (http://www.thetouchtones.com/index.html).

Joining The Touchtones opened me up to a whole new community at Cornell that consists of all the a capella groups on campus. I have found that the a capella community is very vibrant, diverse, and active, providing a great opportunity for social capital. As noted by Haythornthwaite’s “Social networks and online community” (2007), the a capella community would be considered a Gemeinschaft because of a number of reasons. First, many people within the community have strong interpersonal ties. I have formed these kinds of relationships with people within my own group. Second, we all have the shared focus and common purpose to sing and entertain the Cornell community. Lastly, we share a common language and identity. Our common language consists of a capella and music terms like perc, B flat, and pitch.

Using a Social Network Analysis, The Touchtones are the center of this egocentric network. The other singing groups, and the people in these groups, are considered the actors. Some strong ties exist between my group and other groups that we perform with often. Many of the individual members of these groups have ties to each other, creating a dense network. Weak ties exist between our group and groups we do not perform with as often. Although these ties are weak, they can connect us to unique resources, like other performance opportunities. We all share the common ground of a love for singing and performance. Often we join together to entertain the Cornell community for a good cause, as is happening this weekend at IthacAID XVI,which will benefit the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Alzheimer's Association. Reciprocity occurs when we give each other feedback on performances and song selections.

The Touchtones communicate in a CMC setting through a listserv and a website. The listserv allows the musical director to send us songs and rehearsal schedules. In turn, we can all email each other when we have announcements or suggestions. The website is used to communicate to outsiders who wish to find out more about us. Here we can post clips of songs, pictures, and information about upcoming events.

Anyone looking for a “Gemeinschaft” should definitely consider joining the a capella community at Cornell. Through SNA attributes, common ground, and reciprocity, I have discovered my newfound community to be extremely positive and rewarding.

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