What if community platforms were designed like ecosystems? Which species (roles, rituals, constraints) stabilize the environment, and which introduce chaos?
Belated reply, but I've also been thinking about ecosystems and how that relates to community. My focus has been more targeted to integration of a company's entire offerings (product or service with a community) and how to best bring them together in a cohesive way. I love this take on the community being it's own ecosystem and designing the best natural environment for ongoing beneficial symbiosis of keystone species and stewardship. Can you tell I love an ecology reference? The Jillians strike again!
I love that you mention stewardship and the role of stewards to curate, facilitate and activate. That includes being clear about scope and gating, norms and gives-gets (what you need to bring as a member and what you can expect to receive in return).
Part of what makes an ecosystem not only a living but also a sustainable organism, is to allow for gradients and diversity of participation. A healthy ecosystem is not flat, where all participants are treated equally, but where belonging becomes 'contributional', recognising and rewarding the behaviours and activities that help the 'ecosystem' prosper ...
Not sure we can design for them either unless there is a clear keystone "species" that emerges. But that's unlikely. I have very rarely ever seen a community with identical keystone behavior (similar, yes; identical, no).
I think instead it's a matter of knowing what a keystone species might look like and doing everything we can to encourage their unique existence when they do appear. The tricky bit is recognizing that it's never going to be a one-size-fits-all solution, and we need to be ready to adapt to incredibly unique needs.
Oooh 👀 @Mary Jantsch, this reminds me of the great work you’re doing!
Belated reply, but I've also been thinking about ecosystems and how that relates to community. My focus has been more targeted to integration of a company's entire offerings (product or service with a community) and how to best bring them together in a cohesive way. I love this take on the community being it's own ecosystem and designing the best natural environment for ongoing beneficial symbiosis of keystone species and stewardship. Can you tell I love an ecology reference? The Jillians strike again!
I love that you mention stewardship and the role of stewards to curate, facilitate and activate. That includes being clear about scope and gating, norms and gives-gets (what you need to bring as a member and what you can expect to receive in return).
Part of what makes an ecosystem not only a living but also a sustainable organism, is to allow for gradients and diversity of participation. A healthy ecosystem is not flat, where all participants are treated equally, but where belonging becomes 'contributional', recognising and rewarding the behaviours and activities that help the 'ecosystem' prosper ...
https://medium.com/@tomvandendooren/why-communities-fail-when-everyone-belongs-equally-0bf499edce4d
Not sure we can design for them either unless there is a clear keystone "species" that emerges. But that's unlikely. I have very rarely ever seen a community with identical keystone behavior (similar, yes; identical, no).
I think instead it's a matter of knowing what a keystone species might look like and doing everything we can to encourage their unique existence when they do appear. The tricky bit is recognizing that it's never going to be a one-size-fits-all solution, and we need to be ready to adapt to incredibly unique needs.