Pattern Language for Online Communities

There are times in your life where you entertain a passion and you want to find other people who share the same passion, are troubled by the same concerns, active in the same domain. They will understand your passion and will be glad to get into profound discussions on the finer points and angles of your shared issue of interest. Among one’s direct circle of acquaintances one can find a few friends who share this interest, of course there is a great joy in meeting many more, but those are a little harder to find or meet – sometimes there are conventions or clubs or gatherings dedicated to the topic of interest, (sometimes there are none), but even they – joyous as they are – are ever limited by mundane concerns such as time and distances...