EDITOR Hugh Dubberly hugh@dubberly.com

A mobile community, therefore, can be defined as a group of people with shared interests (i.e., health, safety, entertainment, and so on) getting together first online and then in person to define common goals, agree on actions to achieve them, and then carry out their plans. A mobile community can be built up in private (consisting of friends, family, or colleagues—people who are well known to each other) or created in public (a flash group assembled because of shared interests and coincidences of space and time).

Broadly, the mobile community model encompasses two varieties: those centered on relationships and those centered on tasks. The former are typically informal, grassroots-oriented communities that revolve around shared interests, ideas, topics, and goals. In these communities, the development of relationships is the primary goal. In contrast, task-centered communities tend to be more structured and impersonal. The relationships established or augmented online are a means to a mutual end,

One to One, 1 : 1 Communication One to many, 1 : N Communication

Many to many, N : N Communication

Personal Expression Social Discourse Expansion of Mobile Communication

such as efficiently making a satisfying purchase.
More specifically, the communities are established
between business partners, •
between businesses and their customers, •
between different groups of customers within •
companies,
and between individuals and groups devoted to •
particular topics.

Based on two continuums—for profit versus nonprofit (or financial capital versus social capital) and strong personal ties versus looser social connections—the mobile community model articulates four types of communities. Any individual might be a member of all four; this case is visualized by the face in the center (see Figure 2).

Groups of people in the left-hand column (the first and third quadrants) are likely to value “ efficiency” more than groups in the right-hand column (the second and fourth quadrants). On the other hand, groups in the right-hand column are organized around social goals, not profits or business

1 : 1 Communication

Social Discourse

1 : N Communication

Personal Expression

N : N Communication

November + December 2009

• Figure 1. Mobile communication has focused on one-to-one connections for many years; however, the role will expand to group communication, which is needed for efficient and effective community management.