I really like this description you supply for the meaning of ownership; “the sense of ownership that people feel for something that they are passionate about because they helped to create it in some way.”

And metaphor of a party works for me too!

Keep creating….a party worth going to,
Mike

Great post. Trying to get people to not freak out and do things like delete negative or critical (but otherwise non-rule-breaking) comments is hard.

I agree that a company that “hosts” a community should think of itself as en equal member, but it’s so hard to get some people to move away from the “it’s our house, so we can do whatever we want” mentality.

I use the metaphor of hosting a party quite often, when I’m teaching about community building. When you host a community, you’re throwing the party. You build and provide the house (site) where the party will happen. You invite interesting people to come to the party, and give them other interesting people to talk to. You can provide amusements, but not stupid party games (no one likes to be forced into doing something they don’t like at a party). You’re there in case something goes wrong, and needs to be addressed. But if you’re a good party host, you want to make sure things go smoothly, and enjoy the party equally for yourself, NOT make yourself the center of attention the whole time.

Every time I think about it, I find more ways the party metaphor applies to community building. I think in this case, with ownership, you could say that sure, a party host COULD make and enforce abitrary rules, and act like a dictator, because it’s “their” house or “their” party. But that makes the party suck. No one will want to stay if you start acting like that. And in the end, it’s really just embarrassing.

Keep up the great posts, Dawn! I’m telling everyone I know in the community building world (especially at Intel) that your blog is a must-read. I hope they’re listening to me, because if they’re not, they’re missing out!