Baym’s 5 Elements of Community

In response to the complex notion of a community, Nancy Baym states 5 factors which cooperate with each other to form a community. These elements being a “shared sense of: space, practices/norms, resources, identities and relationships” (Baym, 2010). The Cuesports Society incorporates these factors, making it the strong, dynamic community it is today.

Aimed at unifying students from universities all around Sydney, Cuesports creates a shared sense of space both physically and digitally through their methods of communication. The in-person events allow members to interact in real life about Pool while the multiple online platforms like Facebook and Discord simultaneously share a metaphorical and real space.

Baym voices that “communit[ies] can also be found in the habitual and usually unconscious practices – routinised behaviours – [which] group members share” (Baym 2010, p.77). The central identity which connects the Cuesports community is the interest in playing Pool, thus the basis of all communication being on this shared practice, or the norm.

The shared resources of the tightly bonded society is providing all members with esteem-boosting support in playing Pool, whether they be a beginner or long-term player. This shared sense of providing social support to one another is an additional factor which makes Cuesports a genuine community.

Looking at the roots of the community, it is evident that all members share the “social identity or schema of who they are ( Tajitel & Turner, 1986). Not only do individuals have the love for pool in common, but also the identity of being a university student. With this in common, relationships are deeper as members can relate to the daily struggles of being a student.

The interpersonal relationships which emerge in such communities, spark emotional feelings between members of a community, as explored in Cuesports’ intimate, welcoming environment both in the digital and physical sphere.

These five factors of community which are indicated by Cuesports indeed make the community one of unity and hospitality.

Cuesports society is an online community which encompasses Baym’s (2009, p.89) statement that ‘people may also join groups because they already share a social identity’ such as ‘share a race, ethnicity, profession, or another affiliation.’ The dense network of technologies which make up this digital community effectively indicates Nancy Baym’s statement that “Different technological platforms lend themselves to different sorts of group formations”(108). This community has its own website, and much of the information is the same as the information on Facebook page which was created on February 3rd, 2013. This allows for members/ those interested who don’t have access to Facebook to access the same information and photos.  The internal members of the club will post photos and profiles of activities in the group, so that more external members who want to join can have a better understanding of the club. This community also use the other social media, for example this community has information on other websites, such as Facebook messenger, Discord server, YouTube channel and Challonge; thus making the group bigger and more well known. The society posts announcements on these different mediums and provides a wider range of contact information. With the same content being posted on several platforms, a larger target audience is reached upon. For example, Cuesports’ Discord server allows people within the group who share the same interest in gaming to get to know each other better, making relationships between members more intimate and increasing the sense of a close community. Facebook is used by lots of Australia born university students, hence it being the main social platform, however smaller platforms like email are available for  international students who don’t use Facebook.

Internal Communication

Being a hobby-based students group, members already know their social identity before they join this group, encouraging internal communication in some extent. According to Financial Times (2019), Internal communication refers to the transmission of information between members within a community. The Cuesports group utilises Facebook as its main platforms, one which provides a multitude of affordances for members as well as enabling more interaction. Members can share their knowledge or skills about how to play pool and post pictures about games. The friendly and inclusive nature of the community allows beginners to openly ask questions regarding pool or the society itself by posting them on the group page, which other members are able to answer. Rude content/comments posted on the group pages are regulated by managers who are able to delete this information. Meanwhile, depending on Baym (2009,p.89) mentioned that ‘online groups provide contexts for forming one-on-one relationships.’ Therefore, members are able to develop personal relationships through the Facebook page and contact each other privately through Facebook messenger. In addition, Cuesports society has non-digital forms of communication where members develop face-to-face relationships. There are three main non-digital forms of communication. The first one is lessons which introduces members to the rules of pool and holds a space for improvement in their skills. Secondly is monthly social events such as pool parties, social BBQs where both newcomers and members can socialise about pool but also make new friends from a variety of different unis. Event details like place, time and target audience are displayed on the ‘Events’ subpage which members can press “going”, “interested” or invite others to. As a sport community, the last analogue form of interaction are competitions held at ‘CityHeroes Pool & Billards.’  Additionally, the ‘visitor posts’ tool allows people who aren’t in the closed group to post information about selling second-hand pool equipment, or challenge for a pool race on a both internal and external based communication. Yearly Formal Memberships are completed by signing up and transferring a membership fee via the public hyperlink on Cuesports’ Facebook page.

External communication

Cuesport society has their own YouTube channel where videos and live streams of pool + Snooker games are posted. By uploading these videos on the largest video site in the world, the society can attract more new members. Cuesport society also set up a web of communication between different platforms- for example, Youtube videos are linked on Facebook posts. Cuesports own a website, another platform that they are able to introduce themselves to external guests. On the website, basic information about community and the team is available allowing a wider spread of information to those who are not exclusively a part of the internal communications on Facebook.

Acknowledging that “different technologies ‘afford’ different actions” (Gerbaudo, 2018), the impacts it has on users of a certain product or technology can differ. This is evident in Cuesport Soceity’s use of affordances on their main digital platform Facebook. Facebook has various affordances including the option to use reactions, create events (which users can apply “going, “interested” or invite others to) , share recommendations and invite other to join closed groups which all contribute to the booming success of advertising a digital community and increasing the interest of the public to a certain page like Cuesports Society.

A crucial affordance to analysing the public interest of a community is evident in the reactions which encase varied emotions like the ‘crying’ face, the ‘angry’ face, ‘shocked’ face or the ‘happy’ face. When a member reacts according to these options to a certain post on the wall, admins and creators can get a thorough understanding of what the members think can be improved / what they enjoy within the group.