Online and networked collaboration grew from sociologist Niklas Luhmann’s systems thinking, Jack Burnham’s theories of ‘systems esthetics’ in the 1960s, and Roy Ascott’s telematic and cybernetic art. In the last fifteen years, social networking platforms have had an enormous impact on creative communities. They can enable autonomy to create independent works and assert relationships among peers without relying on institutional platforms. In addition, these new technologies allow for geographically disparate communities to arise, which has led to the emergence of many networked communities that are most commonly thought of as online or virtual. However, networked communities are a different subfield to online or virtual communities, and they expose the importance of cultural, social, and technical networks in the physical world. Rasa Smite (2013) proposes that networks have influenced how people see their communities; rather than merely providing information, they act as conduits of information exchange.

Optional reading:
Smite, R. (2013). Creative network communities in the translocal space of digital networks. Human Technology, 9(1), 4-21. https://humantechnology.jyu.fi/archive/vol-9/issue-1/smite9_4-21/@@display-file/fullPaper/Smite.pdf