I think of a community as sort of the inverse of a mob. A mob shares a space for a short time, unifies around a single shared idea or emotion, and destroys the

I think of a community as sort of the inverse of a mob. A mob shares a space for a short time, unifies around a single shared idea or emotion, and destroys the awareness of the individual. A community shares a space for a prolonged time, unifies around a hodgepodge collection of ideas, and maintains the level of individual thought and awareness. The quality and persistence of the space is critical. Online communities certainly do exist, but the space is ephemeral and lower fidelity than shared physical space because the range of possible forms of communication is constrained.