Individualism is what truly makes humans interesting. If everyone looked and thought the same, life would’ve been boring. The diversity of views, however, isn’t unproblematic. On a grander scale, there’s the conflict of interests that may stem from it. But then, on a personal level, you may have individuals who follow certain ideas but don’t have many or any people around who share them. These folks may crave the companionship of other like-minded persons and their best bet for finding community is going online.
Being a part of a community is so empowering to an individual. Knowing there are others who understand and share your vision can trigger positive emotions leading to affirmative actions being taken on- and offline.
Reasons for wanting to join a community may be many, depending on one’s individual experience. However, there are also certain fundamental factors at play here so let’s have a look at them first.
Why people are searching for community
Some social ideologies paint a picture of a somewhat monolithic humanity, where everyone follows the same values and has the same drives but the truth is humans have always been tribal and this isn’t an inherently bad trait. Artificially boosted social polarization can be dangerous for sure but in essence one’s preference towards a certain group doesn’t equal being hostile to others.
With humans being as diverse as they are, a problem arises when one is unable to find and join a group of individuals sharing their views in their nearest physical vicinity.
People are fundamentally craving interaction with like-minded individuals because they want to know they’re understood on a deeper level. Community is a sort of a support group where individuals are having daily conversations about what matters to them. This serves as an antidote to people who are often misunderstood among their social peers.
Community doesn’t have to be solely about back patting either. It can be centered around an open exchange of ideas and if this is the case, the Internet provides an opportunity to extend your viewpoint to hundreds, thousands, or perhaps even millions of individuals online.
This can help one find people who sympathize and agree with their views but also expand their outlook on the world by hearing out others.
How do you find community online?
Even just a couple of decades back you had to venture out into the world to meet new people. There were simply no alternatives to face to face encounters. This is obviously still a really good strategy with a number of advantages, however, there are some drawbacks as well.
When trying to find a community offline, one has to devote a lot of time to it and the return (finding a suitable group of people) is not guaranteed. In other words, the entire process is just not very efficient. Honestly, I doubt anyone anywhere is solely relying on such an approach.
So how do you set about finding a community you can truly be a part of and feel at home in?
By doing a Google search, obviously.
Modern technology facilitates finding new friends and connecting with them like never before. Everyone knows about all the social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. Then there are dating sites and apps for finding a partner. You also have specialized forums and chat rooms catering to various niche interests and ideas.
The latter is perhaps a space broader than most people think. What all these sites have in common though is their users craving connection which can, in fact, be easily established despite physical distances.
Chatwee as a community building tool
In order to thrive, community members need to have a way of expressing themselves and interacting with each other. Community and communication even contain the same root word, meaning the exchange of thoughts is essential for any group of people bound together by a set of shared ideas.
Normally, this would involve face to face contact but since we’re talking about online communities, a communication platform of some sort is required.
Chat rooms like Chatwee are a popular tool online communities use to stay in touch on a day to day basis, strengthen ties, and generate engagement between members.
Chatwee allows users to join ongoing discussions taking place across multiple rooms or start private conversations with any of the logged in members. There are various access options available, including restricting it only to your registered users (SSO), different layout configurations and tons of customization options, powerful moderation features to stay on top of things, and the chatting experience isn’t just about plain text but also emoji, links, videos, short voice messages, pics, and gifs.
In essence, Chatwee has all the prerequisites of a social hub serving an online community and keeping its members engaged.
Final word
Humans are looking to connect with individuals similar to them almost by default. Strength in numbers doesn’t only refer to sheer physical force. Finding a fitting community also means personal fulfillment and growth.
In this day and age, technology aids the process of finding an adequate peer group online, especially if the need can’t be immediately met in the real world. Craving for connection remains a strong component of human nature, and now there are more methods than ever to satisfy it.
Among multiple ways of going about building AND finding community online, chat rooms emerge as an efficient method for bringing people closer together. Anyone operating a website can easily install Chatwee to boost activity and real-time engagement among their tribe’s members.
With the slew of exciting features Chatwee offers, it’ll surely contribute to strengthening ties and growth of your online community. Give it a try today!
