The ICANNblog

.asia, A Social Networking Goldmine!

August 30th, 2007

In a previous post of mine, titled Giving Birth to a New TLD, I wanted to take a moment to remind us of the new, .asia Top Level Domain (TLD), by DotAsia, that will soon be available for use.  What does this mean?  Does this mean instant community?  Hmmmm….  What is a community?

Being a social networking enthusiast, I have built, managed and merged social networks, or “communities”.  Needless to say, the idea of a never static, always changing, ‘”'’living””’ “community” excites me.

So, when .asia appears on the domain landscape, does that mean instant community?  My thought is there is no such thing as “instant community”.  Building a successful community requires a common theme, or sub-themes, common goals and a common purpose.  But in the life of a living community, the strength and weakness of any given community changes, whether frequently or over time.

When looking at “communities”, formed based on TLDs, we have country specific TLDs, or ccTLDs by which a country’s populace can rally around.  We can also rally around a particular TLD based on market verticals, such as .com, .org or .edu.  We do have .eu for the European Union, but as I have heard people mention, with .eu comes a common legal structure, common currency and common passport that binds the .eu countries into a definable community.

So, where may this leave .asia?  In the application process the DotAsia organization obtained support from the following  organizations.
The coverage is huge.  When looking at the countries alone we are looking at:

Afghanastan, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macao, Mongolia, New Zealand, Niue, Phillipines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, as well as the three organizations of APNIC, APNG and PAN/IDRC

What I really, Really, REALLY  like about this mixture is:

1. You are dealing with countries both small and HUGE, population-wise.
2. You are dealing with countries both small and HUGE when looking at global economic wealth.
3. You are dealing with countries that span the technological spectrum.
4. As a region you are dealing with countries that do not have a common language.
5. As a region you are dealing with countries that do not have a common religion.
6. As a region you are dealing with countries that have varying geographical demands.
7. As a region you are dealing with countries that hold differing political structures and ideologies.

So, am I surmising that creating a common community among the .asia supporters is doomed?  NOT AT ALL!!!!!  In fact, I see a goldmine for various, healthy communities.  In my experience, a community is not based upon one single thing.  As referred to earlier, a community is like a living organism, taking on different shapes and strengths.  Not only can all those who support the .asia extension come together as a region and have a stronger global voice, there is fertile ground for the development of sub-communities, or sub-social networks, based on any one, or a combination of the seven items mentioned above; all using .asia as a common thread.

So, will the success of healthy, thriving communities rest on the shoulders of DotAsia to form and manage all of the various potential communities?  No!  DotAsia is providing and managing the common thread, however it should be up to the supporting partners and organizations to recognize, develop and drive the potential .asia offers them.

To help with this effort, DotAsia has announced their Pioneer Domains Program.   Instead of opening up the .asia domain for domainers to purchase .asia domain names with the idea of selling or potentially developing, DotAsia is doing a smart thing in that they are kick-starting this community by having visionaries come forward and let people know their ideas for how they would develop a .asia domain; a domain that shows the beginnings of a working, healthy community.  Those visionaries would then be chartered to begin developing their .asia domains.

Any community takes effort and time, but I feel DotAsia, this not-for profit organization, is taking the right steps in planting the seeds for a successful, grass-roots developed .asia.

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