As I have discussed in another thread, I believe most users of FT visit no more than four or five forums on a regular basis. Therefore, I believe that any discussion on community needs to begin with that reality in mind. The good news is that there is a significant degree of cross-pollination between forum memberships. Of two fliers who both fly Delta and visit that forum, one might stay with Marriott and enjoying talking about airport security while another might be a woman who prefers Hilton and who peruses the woman’s travel section. They share one forum, while differing on two others. In that way, the greater community forms as a web of connections. What in the real world might be six degrees of separation on here might be capped instead at two or in rare instances three. What an online community lacks is the equivalent of an introduction and therefore that whole “friend of a friend” relationship is not always as apparent.
The more difficult part of this question is in examining the correct balance and recommendations. I personally believe that more intimate settings lead to stronger relationships. In that way, having people get to know each other well on smaller boards is a good thing. The danger, of course, is if that sub-community then feels that it is somehow unrelated to, better than, or disparaged by the greater body. While I would love to say that I have all the answers to solve that problem, the reality is that a virtual army of social scientists has yet to derive a solution for those types of dynamics that do evolve with within modern multicultural communities. All I can say is that conflict will occasionally arise and I have found that it is best to tackle it as quickly and as forthrightly as possible as the biggest danger is not the conflict itself, but the resentments that can linger when issues are not resolved. The web of relationships is a foundation upon which we must depend, and therefore I believe that each of us has a part to play in calming the emotions that occasionally erupt.