Open Creative Communities

Richard Florida points us to a ‘must read’ essay by Mark Kuznicki on Open Creative Communities where he tries to outline the communities that are evolving with help from the connectivity of the digital age. He says:

These communities live in a hybrid virtual- and place-based geography. They are hyper-creative and produce some phenomenal artifacts of human ingenuity and culture. They are open, in that the barrier to entry is not a membership fee or a geographic line in the sand or a common ethnicity. The barrier to entry is creative citizenship, and you are either a citizen and a participant or you are not, based on your individual relationship to that community’s interests, practices, proximity and values.

…A new world is emerging, beneath the surface of the old. It is a world of open creative human communities that are both global and local; multidimensional and interconnected with one another. It is a world increasingly based on a reputation economy, where authority is earned and accumulated through social media along with other traditional avenues of social interaction. It is a world fueled by a peer production paradigm and a reputation economy that interacts with the industrial capital economy, a world where creative innovations will fuel future growth and human development.

Mark goes into great detail about the drivers and pillars of these communities and is a worthwhile read for any of you who are trying to build networks and communities. The thinking is very reflective of the conversations Noah and I have had about the popularity of the Likemind coffee mornings.

Remarkk! » Essay: What is an Open Creative Community?