The Business Value of Developer Relations: How and Why Technical Communities Are Key To Your Success

© Mary Thengvall 2018

Mary ThengvallThe Business Value of Developer Relationshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-3748-9_1

1. An Introduction to Community

Mary Thengvall¹ 

(1)

San Francisco, California, USA

 

If you run a Google search for “community” you’ll find a wide variety of results, from the hit TV sitcom of that name to three different online dictionary definitions, to a handful of developer community websites for particular brands, to a company that sells loudspeakers. With almost five billion search results, it’s no wonder people in the technology industry have such a hard time agreeing on what a community actually is, who it’s comprised of, and how to work with them.

BusinessDictionary.com¹ says community is defined as a “Self-organized network ...