What is a community? I’ve been pondering this question a lot lately. There are so many ways to define a community, and so many questions arise when thinking about what that word means.

• Are we a community by virtue of living near others? Is my town a community?
• Are we a community by virtue of using common software? Is everyone who uses WordPress part of a community?
• Do we create community around common ground? Is a high school a community? Am I in a community because I like Lego? (Is there a Lego community?)
• Do we have to participate in order to be considered part of a community?

I talk about the WordPress community a lot. When people ask what I do at Post Status, telling them my title isn’t enough. They ask “but what do you do?” When I tell them I tend to a community, especially if they’re not in WordPress at all, that also means almost nothing to them.

So then, what is the WordPress community? Or community at all?

Definitions matter … to an extent

I referred to Dictionary.com to find the definition of community. According to that source, you can consider a community defined as any of the following:

1. a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
2. a locality inhabited by such a group.
3. a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists: the community of scholars;
   • the business community;
   • the community of scholars;
   • diversity within a college community;
   • London’s Jewish and Muslim communities.
4. a group of associated nations sharing common interests or a common heritage.
   the community of Western Europe.
5. Ecclesiastical. a group of men or women leading a common life according to a rule.
6. Ecology. an assemblage of interacting populations occupying a given area.
7. joint possession, enjoyment, liability, etc..
   community of property.
8. similarity; agreement; identity.
   community of interests. Synonyms: likeness, correspondence
9. the community, the public; society.
   the needs of the community.

I suppose given these definitions, the WordPress community would fall under definition three above. “[A] group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists.”

So I said definitions matter … to an extent. Because I still have questions.

Does one have to actively participate in a community to be considered part of it? Is a loyalty or allegiance required? And further, can one be considered a part of a community if they do not desire to be part of it?

Who then, are WordPress community members?

As I see it (and please comment below if I’ve missed a group), the WordPress community might include the following:

• All WordPress users. (Anyone who has ever logged in to a WordPress website.)
  • Developers
  • Designers
  • Authors
  • Editors
• WordPress contributors. (Anyone who has ever contributed through a Make team.)
• WordPress contributors. (Anyone who creates or contributes in ways outside of a Make team.)
• Anyone who creates/sells/distributes through the ecosystem, whether free or premium.
• WordPress media. (Anyone reporting on WordPress or podcasting about WordPress.)

It seems to me that the last three easily fall within the definition chosen above for community. But what about the first one? Is every WordPress user a part of the community? And how does one leave a community? Is it possible, or will you always be known as part of what you once belonged to?

Still with me?

If you’ve made it this far and you’re still with me, what are your thoughts? Or do you think it matters at all? Maybe it matters to some of us and not to others, but for me community also brings a sense of belonging, and belonging in WordPress helps move the community and the open source project forward.