I am increasingly of the opinion that, despite the trend over the last 25 years or so away from an “outward” focus on the common good and toward a more atomistic, inward focus on individual goodies — manifested by such things as gated communities, high fences around properties, hermetically sealed SUVs transporting children back and forth to activities via roads that have no sidewalks, and even a growing emphasis on of all things the LAUNDRY ROOM as a focal point of the house — there is nonetheless a real hunger among us for whatever this thing is called “community.” We’ve tried bowling alone, and it ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. So of course it makes perfect sense for the C3 to provide the connective tissue that fosters community, in whatever form community members need it to take.

We underestimate that hunger for community at our peril, IMHO, and, as contentninja points out, we gain great advantage if we can be the assumed, under-the-skin obvious go-to provider of anything that facilitates that connection. To be the intuitive choice is exactly the goal.

We foster authentic relationships with people and among them, and the community is strengthened by having that need met. In conjunction with that effort, the information/content/context we provide then nourishes and sustains the community/relationships.

As for being the information provider of choice, I’m actually hoping for something more. That we be so much a part of the community that people don’t even have to think about where to turn. It’s not a conscious choice, it’s intuitive.