A community that I am active in is the Big Red Marching Band. This organization has developed into a community that fits the concept of Gemeinschaft. He describes Gemeinschaft as “a collective based on strong interpersonal ties, face-to-face interaction, a shared focus and common purpose, language and identity.” Between rehearsals, football games, road trips, and parties, BRMB members form many ties. Information often spreads through the band according to both leadership structure and social ties. Given the size of the band (over 150 members, plus alumni who frequently visit and remain part of the community) most of the ties are relatively weak. Any given member can most likely identify any other member and have a general idea of their personality. The strong ties are often within individual sections, and then with select other individuals. Members of a section share the same traditions and are together on the field. As a result, information is often freely shared within the members of a section. Information from a second section often arrives to the first section through individuals who have a strong tie to a member of the second section. The result is that there are many small communities within the larger BRMB community.
The primary reason the band has a such a strong sense of community is the common ground shared by the members. With rehearsals three nights a week, and then usually spending almost all of Saturday together at the football game, in addition to frequent parties, members have a great deal of common ground. They all joined the organization due to their interest in playing music and participating in the band. Even the weak ties within the band might be considered a strong tie in a different community. It is almost guaranteed that any two individuals in band have a close friend in common.
The primary CMC within the BRMB community is through the various email listserves. Every member of the band is on Band-l. This listserve, while often used for basic schedule information and announcements, also frequently has just random conversations and banter. On any given day, I would estimate about 10 emails are sent over the listserve. There are also language norms through most of the emails that serves to further cement the community identity. In addition to the full band listserve, each section has its own, which is often used to supplement the main listserve (in other words, to make fun of everyone else). The email communication lends itself to the hyperpersonal model in that personality traits come across amplified in the medium. For instance, one member who tends to send longwinded emails forms a distinct impression on everyone, and as a result of their perception, that member continues to send the emails to form his distinct persona.
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http://comm245yellow.blogspot.com/2007/10/cornell-racing-more-properly-known-as.html
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2 comments:
Elliot,
Nice job with this post. It clearly demonstrates that you understand terms discussed with this topic, and your initial inclusion of Gemeinschaft introduced the post nicely. A musician myself, although not in BRMB, I can connect to your post and understand how it fits the model that you have provided. From experience in bands both large and small, I can relate to the fact that most of your interactions with people occur in FtF, and announcements/general information is discussed via CMC. Additionally, your description of BRMB and common ground is clear and logical to both a novice of musical groups, and to someone who has been involved with one. Nice job overall, and I'm looking forward to reading more of your work.
I've had a similar listserv experience regarding people who form impressions based on certain e-mails and then through behavioral confirmation continue to send similar e-mails so as to reinforce these impressions. The person in question became famous (or notorious, depending on your point of view) for his ironically long-winded, grandiloquent and prolix e-mails - interestingly enough, he eventually started mimicking his style for listserv e-mails in FtF communication. That's one aspect of the hyperpersonal model that transcends CMC, apparently.
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