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December 8, 2021
Community Paper
Community is an important aspect of society today, essentially, with issues like racial

problems and class issues in American society at an all time high, its important to analyze the

impacts of community and how they can help address these issues. Essentially, in her article

What Does ‘Community’ Mean, Megan Garber addresses what it really means to be part of a

community, and what a community membership offers individuals. Furthermore, she touches on

important aspects about communities that need to be addressed, such as the intersection of

community and identity. These issues, viewed under the progressive scope of todays political

climate, are important to analyze because of the impacts they have on people’s perception of

community members and how communities are respected.

A core discussion within Megan’s article is how communities are changing due to

technology and the shifting lines of American society. As an entire generation of young

Americans enters the workforce, become homeowners, and take up the mantle of adulthood,

there is a new dynamic to the word community that did not exist two or three decades ago.

Essentially, impact of social media in defining community is massive, today there can be

members of a community who have not ever physically met. A highly evident example of this is

social media, where “Facebook and Tumblr, and Snapchat” all have community members, most

of whom have never or will never meet each other. This is highly evident for online communities

of members, from fan clubs to cult fans for celebrities, to even hate groups that participate in

racial discrimination.
 Garber addresses this widespread and unique aspect of communities today, through a

political lens as well. To Garber, community can be politically empowering as well, essentially,

providing a protection and sense of membership for all individuals. Community is empowering

in this sense due to the heightened ability to mobilize towards an ideology, organize in terms of

protests, as well as create real dialogue and discourse regarding an idea. This was a highly

powerful factor that was showcased through the Black Lives Matter movement, and the power

social media had in terms of helping organize and direct the movement.

From the approach Garber takes, community is more than just a physical location where

individuals live, rather, it is a cohesive structure and organization of logical reasoning,

relationships, ideology and in some cases emotion. Furthermore, Garber addresses how

community is central to American society, from the advent of social media to racial and class

boundaries, community will always have an important role to play in American society, and how

the interactions between different members of different communities take place.

Works Cited
Garber, M. “What Does ‘Community’ Mean.” The Atlantic. 2017. Web.
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/07/what-does-community-mean/
532518/