Over at Common Craft, a web log devoted to innovative uses of social software for business, Lee LeFever has some really interesting observations on how ‘social networking sites’ like Ryze, LinkedIn and Orkut differ from the earliest form of online communites, which were discussion boards and email group lists.

A participant in many early online communities, Lee observes:

In traditional online communities, discussion is the center of the interaction and identity building. Members create relationships (and their own community identities) based on information they post in online discussions. A comparatively small number of all members in any online group choose to actively participate in discussions- most “lurk”. In this situation, the ability for any single member to build an identity hinges upon participation in discussions.

I suppose it’s a more authentic way to build identity, but the new method of posting a profile is much faster and more flexible. In fact, Lee recommends that all communities look at using profiles and helping their members build them up into personal home pages which help show an identity separate from the discussion and present an opportunity for members to put themselves more in context by showing their connections.