Presentation to Alt C 2009 conference on social networking applications and platforms to support the development of communities of practice

1. Graham Attwell
Social networking applications and platforms -
a socio-technical approach to community support

2. an activity and events driven format using
both f-2-f and online modalities

3. Aspects of community
interaction:
visibility, geography,
profiling, shared
interests, authenticity,
transparency, and
voice

4. Choosing tools - availability, cost, functionality
and the existing skill-set within the Emerge team

5. offer the target users a combination of rich
social spaces, alongside the possibilities for
presentations and online gatherings

6. Communities change over
time and the forces that
drive and shape a
community and its
trajectory include:
membership, perceived
value, trust and changing
mechanisms of
governance, ownership
and participation

8. Open versus closed

9. Navigating distributed activity across multiple online
spaces - aggregation and community based media

10. Setting a baseline level
expectation for
engagement

11. Dealing with community support across institutions,
projects, groups and individuals

12. Using a blended approach
to community support

13. How can you facilitate community-led
activity and shift ownership back into
the community

14. Lessons learnt
digital literacy skills of the
community
Agile and flexible approaches
Designing for 'purpose' requires transparency in the technologies
Resourcing is one of the key driving forces behind community
development, participation and governance
equitable opportunities for participation.
community requirements change over time in unanticipated ways
individual visibility
Focus on the benefits for both individuals and organisations

15. Research questions
How can we design an optimal mix of
blended face to face and online activities?
What is the relationship between individual participation and
identity in a community and organisational and funding affiliations?
How can community facilitators measure requirements
and respond in a timely manner?
How do we negotiate norms and regulations for community participation?
How community emergence can be fostered and sustained?
How do dispersed communities develop shared artefacts and practices?

16. All photos - Emerge Flickr pool
http://www.flickr.com/groups/emergeproject/