Reading Response #2

• What role do the arts and culture play in developing community? Find an example of a creative community and discuss what created or maintains it? (Charles, C., & Samples, B. (2004). Coming Home : Community, Creativity and Consciousness. Fawnskin, CA, USA: Personhood Press. 35 – 46).

The arts and culture play a huge role in developing community and bringing people together. As an example, the world of musical theatre has been bringing people together literally and figuratively for many years. YouTube is a great example of how the creativity of many different people has been used to develop community of creators and of fans. The concept of people being able to communicate from all corners of the world by commenting, sharing and actively participating in this helps to form a community. In this sense, ‘community requires a perception of belonging and supports a sense of identity’ (Charles & Samples, 2004) and the idea of associating ones self as a fan or creator in this new online space brought a sense of community and this has brought a whole new wave of events such as conventions where fans and creators alike can interact it the ‘real world’ space and take the online community and make it real. ‘Community requires participation and commitment’ (Charles & Samples, 2004), this is also true, as the people who interact with other fans and creators on YouTube and other social media sites tend to feel as though they are more part of a community and that there are other people they can talk to who are also part of this community. The creators also find that the participation and commitment factor is a huge thing for them in terms of being part of a community. If creators are committed and upload on a regular basis and participate by interacting with fans, they receive benefits in return, such as greater recognition throughout the creator community and also the monetary and exposure opportunities that come with being a committed content creator.In this case, arts and culture are being showcased in a more digital format, but in a way which creates communities in both an imagined and real world environment. These communities are still maintained, although they may shift towards favouring different creators at different times, the idea that YouTube can create and maintain these communities has continued. These communities started when the internet gave people the power to connect with and communicate with people they have never met and maybe will never meet, and are maintained on the same basis. This creative community also inspires more and more people to become involved and to start their own channels and show off their own creativity. Though for some YouTube becomes their career, for others it is a community of people who listen and understand, for some it is new friends, or a creative outlet and overall creates a sense of community that all began on the internet, and is not a community in the most traditional sense of the word, but it works somehow. In this way, arts and culture (especially digital) have played a huge role in developing and maintaining communities, especially among people who would not have been able to communicate before.