Techno Talk:
Online Communities

It’s all the rage now: Facebook, MySpace and a number of other social internet communities,

at least this is what I hear from the teenager and college age set. I’m still in the e-mail discussion

list era where Clay Art, the best-known pottery and ceramic arts internet community started—

and 1s still running, It seems that each generation grows up with their own ideas, technology

and online communities. One day, I’m sure ClayArt will branch into one of TY
the newer online communities, but that'll likely be when most of the members

are the teenagers and college types from today, where this 1s second nature to

them and most of the older generation have adapted or moved on. ClayArt ISa
So what is an online community? It’s been described as the younger SU rprisi ngly open
generations way of social networking, communicating, interacting and keeping and sh ari n g srou p

in touch. I view it as a virtual extension of the high school or college where

you can chit chat with other students and your friends. It has a measure of with lots of good
control that makes it more ‘comfortable? where you can publish the type and advice on sellin g,

amount of personal information you want about yourself and to selectively

seek out and respond to those that you want to interact with. It’s what today’s marketi ng, glaze
kids are growing vp ve and ue used to, so itll likely be a part of how they'll reci pes salore ;
communicate and socialize in the future. °

What’s ClayArt? I would imagine that most of you have heard of ClayArt ti ps on how to,
and may even participated or “lurked” Gust reading without getting involved) reviews on eve ry
in the discussions. I’ve participated and lurked in the past and it’s a terrific kind of technique
learning opportunity, especially when you're starting and learning about clay an d e quipm ent use d

and pottery. There’s so much to learn and always something new, so I just

check it now and again—especually if I have questions or to see if there’s for pottery...
something fascinating going on. All the discussions are archived and saved on
the internet and can be searched and read again, over and over by anyone on Ts

the internet. If you have a question, it’s likely been asked already, so go and do

a search and get an answer from some of the best and brightest in the Clay Art
community—which includes many of the best potters and ceramic artists and

teachers in the world! ClayArt 1s a surprisingly open and sharing group with

lots of good advice on selling, marketing, glaze recipes galore, tips on how to, reviews on
every kind of technique and equipment used for pottery, lots of history, even great and funny
stories. You should at least check it out once.

I find potters.org a great place to check on the discussions and search for items... Go to
http://www.potters.org/categories.htm and browse around. You can join the ClayArt list and
get it sent to you daily via e-mail (I like the digest format that puts it all into one e-mail). Go

to: http://Isv.ceramics.org/scripts /wa.exePSUBRD1=ClayArt&A=1 to sign up.

So what does an online community have to do with us as potters and the Potters Guild of
BC? ClayArt 1s fairly obvious; it’s a means of collaborating and sharing ideas, knowledge and
information between a community of people with similar interests over any distance. That’s
similar to what we as a guild are doing. Pottery and the arts have a visual appeal and the newer
online communities on MySpace, Facebook or YouTube are geared towards that. It’s another
way of getting exposure, marketing and making contacts, especially with the younger crowd.
Just like websites and having a presence on the Internet has now become an accepted aspect
of beinga serious artist, being connected through an online community will likely be a normal
part of the future artist. It’s still evolving, but it’s worth looking at, understanding and getting

used to... just like having a website was a few years ago. Gy Don Jung

CF —_——— rE EE