One of the first questions I always get is whether it's ethical to intentionally shape the culture of a community. The idea that we might be able to make choices about the culture we live in seems to smack of some sort of mind control.
But look – it's a given that folks are going to form communities. It's hardwired as a survival bias and the internet hasn't changed that..
If you're operating on an old MBA mindset, it's the high tech/high touch matrix and today we're seeing that folks will seek toward that corner of the matrix that maximizes both. Beginning with the very earliest internet message boards and progressing through microblogging, people formed communities in even the highest-tech of environments.
So – there will be communities, and they will have their own cultures, their ways of being together and dealing with issues. The question really is whether we let it develop randomly or attempt to make choices about what sort of community culture we want.
We already choose to shape cultures as we build communities. The most obvious example is boot camp – everything is taken away, radical environment and lifestyle changes, and elements of the new culture are introduced. The same processes, albeit in a far less traumatic and dramatic fashion, can be put to work in any community.
I saw a sign the other day at a grocery store: "Everyone speaks to everybody every day." That's a tool for influencing the culture within the store, for building communication structures between all levels. In theory, that means fewer unpleasant surprises for management because the habit of communicating is already in place and reinforced.
So is it ethical to choose to reinforce and develop positive community values? Who decides what are positive values and what aren't? What's the difference between developing a community culture for a business and branding? Is it less ethical or less effective if a profit motive is involve?
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