The Art of Community

TwoThe Boundary Principle

Members want to know who’s in the community and shares their values. Visitors want to know a safe way to explore without committing themselves. Novices prefer to know at what point they’ve joined a community. A boundary is the recognized demarcation between insiders (members) and outsiders. This boundary should be more about making the inside space safe for insiders than about keeping outsiders out. Where there’s a boundary, insiders feel more confident that they share values and that they understand one another better than outsiders.

For example, my friend Amanda belongs to a young mothers’ group based in her hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts. There’s an online forum they use to communicate on social media, and informal ...