ABSTRACT
The chapter draws on Castells (network society) and Delanty (communication community) and three research projects. The first is a study of online self-help groups, where we identified ‘communal normalisation’ as a process in which participants (adolescents with mentally ill parents) were able to open up avenues collectively, by which an unusual family situation became less complicated to handle. The next study is a project on text communication between participants in shared physical spaces, where we identified the concept of ‘communication layers’ as an alternative to Goffman’s frontstage/backstage metaphors. The third study draws on video-based ethnography of a rock-band in the rehearsal room, where we explore the local construction of language (onomatopoeia) where language to discuss musical ideas do not already exist. By exploring a wide range of analogous and digital forms of communication, the chapter opens up new avenues of inclusive community concepts.
