A tribe, a community, a social/cultural/religious sphere; any group of people with common interests or goals. May also be people who simply choose to live in proximity to one another for some reason, usually pertaining to the availability of certain resources.

If we're talking about communities as in a neighborhood in a city, then we have a grouping by proximity to resources. People may choose to collect in one neighborhood over another because of the proximity of water, food, work, bus routes, schools, parks, 7-11's. Levels of crime, cost, taxes, and other less tangible things may also be viewed generally as resources, which factor in when considering communities as grouping by resource proximity.

Another, more interesting type of community, is grouping by interests or values. Everything2 is an excellent example of this type of grouping, since it brings together many people interested in voicing their thoughts and opinions, and in hearing what others have to say. We have geeks, nerds, philosophers, and people who just like a good debate. Lots of diverse interests, but a binding interest in sharing knowledge and experience. Interest type communities are everywhere. Clubs are a prime example of this type of community.

Communities also exist to support. Things like organized religion, support groups, and group therapy exist so that people who have experienced something in common (such as cancer) can come together and share their experience. In the case of religion, and many other support oriented groups, leaders help their followers deal with everyday struggles and help give people some common belief structure to base their lives on. People who belong to such communities find that by exchanging experiences and ideas with each other, they are able feel as if they are part of something bigger than themselves, that they are not alone in the world.

This kind of community, while largely positive and beneficial, can also have negative effects. In the case of religion, especially in cult type organizations, we see individuals stripped of their identities and made into sort of drones; people so devoted to the cause dictated by the leader of the community that they are blind to everything else in the world. In the case of mainstream organized religion, or other groups, the organization may prohibit certain ideas or practices by the membership. The effect of this on the community may be evidenced in different ways. It may serve to enforce the values of the community, or it may be a move simply to keep people within the organization, or to keep the organization seemingly infallible. A prime example of this would be the punishment of Copernicus for asserting that the Earth was not the center of the Universe, as was the view of The Church at the time.

Communities may be formed by any commonality between individuals. People who live in a certain country might describe themselves as members of a community, a community of patriots, or maybe just a community defined by citizenship. The idea of community can be loosely applied to any grouping of people.