Concept: The holistics of communication and community building
Semiosis
Semiosis is a process in which a sign has a cognitive effect on its interpreter. It is the production of meaning through signs.
Defined as something which stands to an observer for something, a sign is constituted by whatever distinguishes it from other signs. It is this difference in relation and reference to other things that defines things; their most precise characteristic is in being what the others are not. It is differences that carry meaning, because perception operates only upon difference.
A white circle on a white background is nothing; it is color and shape that distinguish it from the background. The sound of a word alone is nothing; it is the phonic differences distinguishing it from other words that matter.
Communication
Communication is an active process of allowing differences among signs to make a difference; it is the ongoing process of creating meanings and connecting them to one another. It arises through a synthesis of information, signs carrying this information, and interpretation of information and signs. Our relations to the world, to one another, and to ourselves are always grounded in and mediated by communication.
Organizations are characterized and delimited from the environment by communication, rather than by actions, which are created only within a network of communication.
Community
Community is a cohesive social group or entity of human individuals possessing a unity of will and sharing interests, intents, beliefs, resources, preferences, and needs, within the context of the larger society. A sense of community derives from membership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs, and shared emotional connection.
Membership in a community is characterized by boundaries or markers of membership; emotional safety; a sense of belonging and identification; personal investment; and a common symbol system. Understanding common symbol systems is a prerequisite to understanding community. The symbol is to the social world what the cell is to the biotic world and the atom to the physical world. The symbol is the beginning of the social world as we know it.
Influence in a community is bidirectional: members of a group must feel empowered to have influence over what a group does, otherwise they would not be motivated to participate, and group cohesiveness depends upon the group having some influence over its members. People who acknowledge that others' needs, values, and opinions matter to them are often the most influential community members. Trust is the salient ingredient in influence.
Communities reward their members and fulfill their needs by providing them with what they value and desire. A search for similarity with others contributes to a community's development, enhancing group interaction and cohesion. Shared emotional connection is the definitive element for true community. Shared emotional connection in communities consists of personal interactions, quality of interactions, closure to events, shared events, investment, honoring members, and spiritual bond.
Synthesis
Semiosis Communications grew out of three related considerations:
- Nonprofits and socially responsible businesses tend to work toward solving a problem.
We believe that nonprofits and socially responsible businesses should work toward creating stronger, empowered communities that solve their own problems.
- Most nonprofits and many socially responsible businesses focus on running programs, delivering services, or selling products, creating linkages between their clients and their organizations. Driven by the need to obtain more funds and grow programs, these organizations lose sight of the community they serve.
We believe nonprofits and socially responsible businesses can increase their capacity to serve their communities by elevating their community’s need over their own and allocating their energy and existing resources to fulfilling that need. Organizations driven by well-defined community-centered missions serve as infrastructure for building social networks and relationships among people.
- Organizations that work toward strengthening communities are more effective at generating long-term solutions and more successful at building their own capacity. Organizations that work on meeting community needs are more effective at growing their capacity to build successful societies.
We believe that building communities means nurturing relationships and partnerships, building alliances and coalitions, and forming networks and connections. Organizations that cultivate long-term relationships with their stakeholders will not only build stronger and empowered communities but also succeed in their marketing efforts.
* Note: Our concept is based on works by Gregory Bateson, David Chavis, Juergen Habermas, Rikke Frank Jorgensen, Niklas Luhman, David McMillan, Winfried Noeth, Talcott Parsons, Charles Sanders Peirce, Ferdinand de Saussure, Ronald Stamper, Ferdinand Toennies, and Max Weber. Thank you.
