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J O H N D A V I D S M I T HCoaching communities, their leaders

and their sponsors about technologies, politics and

learning

Choosing social mediafor communities –

mixing strong and weak ties

Apr 8, 2023 Learning Alliances

L E A R N I N G A L L I A N C E S

What I wish I had said

Social GROUPS discover and use social mediaDigital HABITATS support interaction & change

The Jeddah floods can help us understand: social media and Saudi society

A community of practice is a group of people who interact

over a sustained period of time to improve a skill or area of

knowledge.

http://bit.ly/CoP-radio

C O M M U N I T Y R A D I O I N T A N Z A N I A

J O S E P H S I K E K U

C O M M U N I T Y R A D I O I N TA N Z A N I A

COMMUNITY – Farmers, Joseph Sikeku, & others

DOMAIN – Farming practices, prices, etc.

PRACTICE – Farming

Listen to radio, audio interviews, send SMS text messages, face-to-face connections.

COMMUNITY

DOMAIN PRACTICE

Learningcapability

L

… meetings

… relationships

… community cultivation

… access to expertise

… projects

… context

… individual participation

… content publishing

… open-ended conversation

Community activities

oriented to …

Digital Habitats, Chapter 6© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

Community orientations…

STRENGTH OF TIES AND COMMUNITIES

Granovetter’s (1973) definition

Strength a result of a combination of:

• Amount of time• Emotional intensity• Intimacy (mutual confiding)• Reciprocal services• (“Multiplexity”)

… impacts tool choice• Twitter and blogs

extend weak ties• Skype and face-to-face

essential for strong ties• E-mail and forums are

in between

“All bridges are weak ties.”

C O M M U N I T Y O U T C O M E S

• Technical knowledge dissemination• A visible practice emerges• Farmers as researchers• Voice for a voiceless group• A sense of community empowerment

…. leads to a reduction in poverty

What tools to use?

Who are we?Where are we going?

How reach our destination?

Communities ask themselves…

10Apr 8, 2023 Learning Alliances

J O H N D A V I D S M I T HL E A R N I N G A L L I A N C E S

503. 963. 8229John.Smith@LearningAlliances.net

http://LearningAlliances.netSkype and Twitter: smithjd

T H A N K Y O U !