I can’t get the theme song from “Cheers” out of my head today. My son has started watching the show in reruns (Netflix streaming is an amazing thing, especially paired with a Roku box), so I’ve been hearing that theme song a lot lately:

“Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows your name.”

This got me started thinking about communities, and especially online communities. And I think perhaps the “Cheers” writers and song lyricist hit on something of a universal truth about community. Community, in any form — online or in person; in a bar or college dorm, or at a meeting or conference — is about making people feel welcome. A community is a place where people know and recognize each other, and rely on and support each other. Continue reading →