Community

When Lance and I talked about they type of people that come to Carapace he asserted that it attracts lots of very different people. He listed off the different jobs and interests that were represented at Carapace:

It was natural that it would attract the more creative minded

folks

that was a given.

So then we started seeing the office folks

we started seeing

software programmers

IT professionals

flight attendants

it was just this bizarre mix of

people from everywhere

that were showing up.

There was no real one

type

Carapace also attracts people with different views:

The fairly hard core right winger

is sitting right next to

the newly christened hippie

vegan.

So there is some diversity in the community. I share Lance’s enthusiasm for the fact that:

And even better they're getting along

like that was the best thing about it

is even better they all like each other.

The community is not just diverse, but the diverse members like each other.

Lance talked about people forming friendships at Carapace and then hanging out together outside of Carapace. This connects back with some other issues I’ve been working out. Randy believes that many people were attracted to Carapace because they didn’t have to engage. Are these people changing their minds or are there different sets of people - those willing to make friends and those who want to keep a distance? Also, Randy and Lance have said that people feel more comfortable sharing difficult stories with strangers. For these people making friends, Carapace isn’t an audience of strangers anymore. Do they still share difficult stories?

Just as people tell stories at Carapace they don’t tell elsewhere, people meet others at Carapace that they wouldn’t meet elsewhere. Lance talked about two friends who he didn’t know “that they ever would've even crossed paths” without Carapace.