Digital Community -- What Does It Mean?

I've been thinking a lot about what Digital Community means this week.  After reading several blog posts and watching many videos, I've come to understand it's about more than not being a cyberbully.  Certainly this is a problem, and because it's our topic of the week it's taken up residence in the forefront of our collective consciousness, but living and working in a community, digital or otherwise, means more than just being nice and not bothering the neighbors. 

When contemplating our digital society, I think one must continually ask the question: What do I expect to gain from this experience and what do I have to offer?  Many people in our class (including me) have indicated they're more likely to simply lurk and "people-watch" when logged into a social networking site than to actively participate.  I often log in, see what folks are up to, then log out.  I wonder, though, what kind of community it would be if everyone did this.  Community, at least in my mind, means interaction, contribution, and a shared sense of togetherness. 

In order to thrive in an off-line community, say a neighborhood, workplace, or town, it's necessary to do more than be nice.  One must contribute to the common good (shop locally, pay taxes, produce work, etc) as well as follow the established rules of conduct.  I hadn't really thought much about this concept until we kept our digital time log a few weeks ago; one of the questions we answered was "Did the time you spent in digital community accomplish your goals?".  To be honest, I'd never thought of accomplishing goals through socail media -- I just wanted to see what everyone was up to.  Now, though, I think more about being a valued contributor to my digital society, and, by extension, my non-digital society as well.