u3q2 Innovation and High Creativity – Communities on the Bleeding Edge

 

 

Main Topic:

Unit 3, Q2

 

 


Created by:


Leanne C Boyd on 25-Apr-01 at 3:02 pm

 

 


Comment:

Conduct an Internet search for innovative examples/models of sites that mesh commerce and community. Are there any in your own field or industry? (If you cannot find one by searching, check the list at ForumOne, http://www.forumone.com/index/ to find one for this exercise.) Compare and contrast the site you locate, with your community? What features on the sites were most effective? Post your comparison and analysis.

 

 

Innovation and High Creativity – Communities on the Bleeding Edge

 

I have chosen two sites that relate closely to my own career goals. Refuge Earth is geared toward young learners of late high school age to early college age. This group, on the whole, is now very comfortable with computer settings. They have been raised in “game environments” with both the media, and the widespread use of electronic games. Even young people in underserved areas of large cities, my primary target group, are very PC savvy at this point. The two community sites I’ve chosen both have the innovative edge in design and focus, toward which I am striving. I see many similarities between these sites, and my community site of Utne Café. All three are formatted in a general Café setting, but these two “artistic” sites are much smaller than Utne. I see signs, however, of the members being as devoted to their place in the online community, as those of Utne. All three stand very good chances of longevity, because of the dedication of not only the facilitators, but also the community members.

 

I chose artistic communities whose delivery and format is on the cutting edge of animation and “gaming” technology because of my own background in the Arts, and success in published works. The other reason is that, when my goal of working with troubled inner-city youth began, I had immediate success with these young “gangers.” This was premised on the observation that if these young people viewed art like this: spraypaint + wall = ART, then there had to be a lot that visual communication gave to these kids. I was correct, and was able to teach higher level paint and animation software to students who barely had “hunt and peck” capabilities on a keyboard. It is the use of art and graphics that is a primary focus on Refuge Earth.

 

 

 

The Utne Cafe

http://cafe.utne.com/cafe/

 

The Café is a highly organized “Mall” with a focus on free-thinking and the freedom for participants to express their views. It is very lightly moderated, with facilitators whose main functions are for gently leading conversation when it either lags or gets tremendously out of hand, which it seldom does. The blend of community with commerce is very “gentle,” with no push, and really very little “pull.” Their separate marketplace allows the user complete control over shopping choices, down to the when and where. The full gamut of community choices is offered, from the extensive Forums to widely ranging topics for search or research. This includes family life, entertainment, serious research, history, environment, gender issues. In fact, the success of Utne Café is that they ARE “issues-oriented” and draw people from every walk of life, who have a common interest in the topics. The “safety factor” is quite high, and people feel comfortable saying what they feel, even if it is against the grain or argumentative. This group has become one huge family, has a lot of social interaction, and it appears that solid relationships are being formed.  The site has won many awards, and appears to be well-funded, either by its sale of the print magazine, partnerships with affiliate shops, perhaps funding through some of their partnered organizations – or perhaps a combination of all. This is a successful, highly focused web community.

 

 

Electro Web Animation

http://www.electrowebanimation.com/

 

The EWA web site is first of all, a delight to the eye, especially for those interested in science fiction and fantasy art work. It is a community that appears to have many visitors, if the counter is to be believed. It has won awards for its innovative use of animation software, and for its services in web design solutions. This site has gone to great lengths to provide a Café atmosphere. Some of their choices look like the are recent additions to the site, such as a Forums area, much like Utne in setup. They offer many topical, focused areas in the community … but these are quite narrow in appeal, as it is a technical group that is their target as far as “software chat” goes. It is also a very specific group for the scifi & fantasy lover participants. This site has combined community and commerce in a couple of visible ways. They have low-key banner ads for their affiliations. They also have a “services page” in which they outline their web design, animation, and custom scripting services. The artwork is delightful, their custom-made tutorials appear to be used a lot by visitors, and the sheer innovation of the site must be what gets around by “word of mouth.” There is a lot that is successful on this community site, and it’s well worth keeping an eye on, as it shows signs of growth. They don’t appear to have an ever-present monitor in the Forums, but this is asynchronous in nature, and the site is a lot smaller than Utne Café, so perhaps cannot afford to have the site monitored all of the time. There is also a strong hint of “Shrine” in this site, many of the visitors are probably there to simply visit the artwork … much in the same way visitors come to sites for other heroes … to sit and admire the works, but not really to participate on a deep level. Thus, the site doesn’t appear to foster deep relationships, but again, I think this is because the Forums look like recent additions.

 

 

Speculative
Vision

http://speculativevision.com/

 

scifi

Speculative Vision Science Fiction and Fantasy

This site offers a totally unique, highly interactive mode of communication. They not only have forums for talk between members, they also have a special writer’s page entitled, “The Story.” This is at: http://speculativevision.com/fiction.html. The visitor is invited to complete a chapter of an ongoing story. You can choose to go one of many ways, so that the story bends off in many directions, and becomes many stories. From the looks of it, this group has become very close, and even competitive in the writings. The Forums look to be heavily traveled as well. The site also offers the members a place to archive/place in a gallery – their own artworks in this genre. The web site, like Utne and like EWA, offers a lot of resources for this special interest group. This site is so focused, that even the layout of the site is similar to a game environment. Their Games section is fun, and I can see where this is a big attraction for members. They appear to rely solely on affiliate partners for funding. Although this site is set up similar to both Utne and EWA, and appears to be “Café” in style … for me, it felt more like a Shrine – one devoted to the adoration of the innovation and glamour of the art and writing associated with SciFi, the Fantastic, and Gaming. Also, the site seems to be the creation of just a couple of people, who are highly devoted to providing an interactive site based around dearly loved topics.

 

 

 

 

I will state once again: All things considered, the Utne Café is one of the strongest online communities I’ve ever visited. The two sites I chose to research also show much strength, but in a more focused manner. All of them allow the member to talk and communicate freely, so there is much reason to return to the site and become well-established members. All three allow and even promote online relationships. Utne has a bigger sense of community than the other two, but it’s my opinion this is because the artistic sites are relatively new and don’t have the established history, or longstanding relationships, of Utne.

 

I expect that all three sites will stand as viable communities, each serving its topic-focused group of members.

 

 

¾ Leanne C Boyd Ó 2001

 

References

Figallo, Cliff. (1998). Hosting Web communities: Building relationships, increasing customer loyalty, and maintaining a competitive edge. Wiley Computer Publishing: New York, NY. P. 361.

The web sites as listed above in the Table.