“New
technologies offer many affordances that influence what happens through and
because of them. Their combination of interactivity and reach allows people to
come together around shared interests, transcending local communities in ways
that may be personally empowering but potentially polarizing’’ (Baym 2010,
p.138). In the book Personal Connections
in the Digital Age, Nancy Baym discusses her five theories which define
what makes a group of people a community, and the different communication
mechanics behind the group. In accordance to that, the Sydney Photography Club
correlates well with Baym’s theories, as it helps members to artistically
express themselves.
1. Space
(Facebook
and MeetUp https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/sydneyphotographyclub/
)
Unlike other groups, Sydney Photography Group doesn’t appear on many social
media platforms except for Facebook. However, using Facebook poses as a strong
sense of community – the group currently has approximately 13,500 active
members who regularly creates posts and shares interesting contents. However,
in correspondence to Baym’s argument that “most online groups are not so tied
to geographical space”, yet people who are involved in online groups often
think of the shared places” (Baym 2010, p.110), the members of the group aren’t
tied down on a geographical sense as Facebook doesn’t take into any account of
the location that people live in, besides the fact that majority are located in
Sydney.
Using
Facebook as an online platform has cultivated in an environment where
individuals with similar interests can join together and artistically express
themselves – whether it’s through holding workshops to publicly posting their
photographs, which then would extend their interests and opening up newer
connections through the different groups and workshops.
2. Shared practices/ norms
Within the group, members are able to share their passion for photography and
communicate with various people to further strengthen their knowledge in
photography. In addition, the group also holds different polling events to get
a better understanding of the current practices and trends, this can be done
via an admin or through the members ‘’and hence help to forge group identity’’
(Baym 2010, p. 114), admins can also set regulations and expectations for all
members to abide, and it’s through these practices, it’s agreed that this
community has a sense of ‘’shared love of the genre, self-representation.’’
(Baym 2010, p.114).
3. Shared resources/ support
‘’The supportive exchange of resources is often implied when people people use
the term ‘’community’’ in digital contexts.’’ (Baym 2010, p. 118). Support and
shared resources are important factors in the communicating process of the
group, not only would the group share photographs and art crafts, they would
constantly offer advice and opinions via the different attachments, files,
posts, or even through workshops. These methods of sharing resources have
largely contributed into an effort in continuously building the group, which
represents a strong sense of social capital – ‘’refers to the resources people
attain because of their network of relationships.’’ (Baym 2010, p.119). Thus,
through establishing different shared resources channels, members can improve
on their artcrafts or even themselves, which is essential in sustaining an
interactive group
4. Shared identities
‘’Groups
sometimes develop a sense of themselves as a group, a social identity or schema
of who they are that is shared amongst them (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) and
which contributes to the feeling of community.’’ (Baym 2010, p.127). It’s
obvious that the group do share common identities and traits – predominantly
photography and arts, however, an aspect of ‘’behavioral and structural
signatures’’ (Welser et al., 2007) in (Baym 2010, p. 125) are demonstrating
that while the group does have an ongoing active thread but are lacking
responses from the majorities accordingly to the threads.
5. Relationships
A variation of friendships are bound to be made throughout the various
activities and a common interest that the group offers. Members on the group
are normally strangers at first or would know each other through having mutual
friends, however the group gives an opportunity for all members to turn their
internet-made connection into an ‘’IRL’’ or in real life friend. ‘’These
friendships…are made visible to the group when members post reports of having
met or spent time with one another.’’ (Baym, 1995), which are common in the
group as workshops and unofficial meetups happen accordingly to the forum.
Baym, Nancy 2010, ‘Communities and Networks (Chapter 4)’ in Personal
Connections in the Digital Age, Cambridge, Polity Press,
Sydney photography club 