This post is part of a series on “Community-Driven Movements” , a mission that is taken forward by a large, connected group of people.  Here are links to the rest of the series:  People Focused on Their Sphere of Influence , Sphere of Influence

If a community-driven movement is a group of people focused on their Sphere of Influence, and if recognition from the community allows us to personally recognize our Sphere of Influence, how do these communities initially form and grow?

In the very beginning, it’s about a problem or  a passion.  Somebody starts doing something because they like doing it, need to accomplish something, or a mixture of both.  Other people that share this experience, eventually find this network of people.  They likely need help or want to learn more about the activity that the community focuses on.

This describes why an individual might seek out a community and get to the fringe of the community.  But what is the force that drives them to become a member?  This same force ultimately accelerates the activity and scope of the community.

It’s the Law of Reciprocity, a human social law that causes people to have a feeling of gratitude, or even obligation, and respond to this feeling.

To illustrate, I did a simple experiment on Aardvark.  Aardvark is a service that allows a user to ask a question.  Aardvark then finds other users that are best suited to answering your question.

My question: “Why do you answer questions on Aardvark?”

I got 6 responses.  5 of these responses directly cited reciprocation, a  feeling of gratitude toward the community and a desire to return the favor.  One response also acknowledge the enjoyment of the gratitude of other users.  I’ve posted the responses at the bottom of the post.

The process of personal need, reciprocation, recognition, Sphere of Influence describes how an individual goes from the fringe to the interior of a community-driven movement.  This is not the only means of this process, but it describes the most fundamental process.  The forces are so fundamental to the human condition that community-driven movements begin and gain momentum when their mission is irrational or even detrimental (ex. cults).

Through this process, communities create Spheres of Influence, allow people to recognize Spheres of Influence, and motivate action.  The positive feedback causes a community-driven movement to gain momentum.

-Kevin
2.22.2010

karma

I work in customer support and I was a teacher before, so I enjoy helping people when I can. Plus I learn a lot doing this. Sometimes people will ask a question I know nothing about, but it encourages me to go learn about it at a later time.

A little bit of altruism,
Curiosity to test the aardvark system,
gratefulness to the network “as a whole”
Making my time useful instead of playing flashgames

thats a give and take situation, I have received a few rather helpful replies to questions and I can offer some expertise for other questions

I’m excited to answer questions where I can share my own experiences. It’s just fun to share what you know, especially when it’s something you’re interested in and a lot of people on here are very grateful for the help

I feel grateful when I receive any answers to my questions. It’s only fair to reciprocate when I can.