Community, Social Media & Networking
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One Sign of Real Community Online is When We Serve Each Other

Posted by John Saddington on Dec 7, 2009

grandmother-edited

I witnessed a perfect example of community online this past weekend when I saw the community over at Reddit, a social news site, rally around one of their users who “took a gamble” by putting up a picture of his recently deceased grandmother up.

His motivation? To get some image-editing help to remove an unflattering element in the image. The original is posted below with the edited version up top.

Check it out after the jump…

grandmother-original

Pretty neat huh?

The reason this can be somewhat of a gamble is that the potential to do more harm than good is huge on a site like Reddit. It is not uncommon that the seediest of topics can be covered and discussed on that site. But, there are always shining examples of good as well.

Whether or not the type and quality of community is to our personal standards, ethics, or sensibilities, it is community nonetheless.

True community has both the “good” and the “bad” mixed up in one giant ball of humanity. Does your community fare better in one camp more than the other? Is that type of always-uplifting-and-encouraging-and-howdy-doody-positive community real?

Just some food for thought.

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John Saddington

John is the Chief Editor @ The 8BIT Network and Senior Blog Junkie here at ChurchCrunch.He enjoys Triple-Tall Americanos, developing Wordpress Themes, and a few other Random Things.

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12 Responses to “One Sign of Real Community Online is When We Serve Each Other”

  1. dewde
    Monday, December 7, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    That's pretty awesome. One of the things I love and admire about Reddit is the diversity in the community. You really do get to see things in a new way because the points of view cover the complete spectrum.

    I love it.

    peace | dewde

    Reply
    • Tom
      Monday, December 7, 2009 at 5:50 pm

      I feel like communities like Reddit and Digg have devolved so much since they started. It pains me to read the comments now (though I do contend Reddit discussion is more intelligent than what's on Digg).

      This image doesn't restore my faith in those communities, but it does remind me that they aren't all bad ;) .

      Reply
      • human3rror
        Monday, December 7, 2009 at 7:17 pm

        although, you have to admit that the comments are not what you're there for anyways.

        Reply
        • Tom
          Monday, December 7, 2009 at 7:29 pm

          You speak the truth.

          Reply
    • human3rror
      Monday, December 7, 2009 at 3:20 pm

      :)

      Reply
  2. Kyle Reed
    Monday, December 7, 2009 at 4:56 pm

    That is some amazing work and I am glad that people assisted.

    Reply
  3. bondChristian
    Monday, December 7, 2009 at 5:23 pm

    Seeing people serve others like that is powerful and highly encouraging. My whole blog is about serving others, but it's from a Christian perspective. To see those outside Christ rallying together to help others like this is a blessing.

    It makes me remember that Christ can use anyone and also gives me the courage to continue sharing about Christ. After all, He's the author of serving others.

    Marshall Jones Jr.

    Reply
  4. Jim
    Monday, December 7, 2009 at 10:54 pm

    to my knowledge,i've not used reddit, but i love the power of questions within social media…

    Reply
  5. Josh
    Monday, December 7, 2009 at 10:56 pm

    ….got a bit teary-eyed when I saw the before pic compared to the after. INSTANTLY took me back to my grandmother. My dad was wrong-technology is not a phase. :)

    Reply

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