Kathy Sierra (Creating Passionate Users) was surprised to
find that geeks are very interested in learning about “soft” topics like community.

I’m _crazy_ about my community of passionate users and co-developers. The personal information manager I maintain gives me so many opportunities to tailor it to fit people’s individual quirks. I love getting things to fit people. It’s about people, not code. I love helping people become more productive. Dominique says I’m wired differently. He hasn’t met a lot of maintainer-types; most open source developers he’s met are just happy to get something out there. Me, I get my kick out of the relationship I build with the other people throughout the years. I get my kick out of making people’s lives easier. I don’t write extremely clever code, but I learn so much from them about the ways people plan!

I’m also crazy about organizing information and collecting knowledge. “So where are all the Information Designers?” gave me a name for my interest in wikis and developing a culture of documentation in communities. Again, it’s about people! =) Sure, I have to know the technology to set up a good wiki and customize it to their needs, but I’m really more focused on the process and the culture.

Is it ungeeky to be interested in these things, to devour business and
psychology books even more avidly than I do technical books? I don’t
think so. To me, people and organizations have even more complex and
fascinating systems that I want to hack. They’re way, way, way cool.
I’ve come a long way since my “eewww, MIS!” days, and I look forward
to learning more about the way people work.

UPDATE: I’m not the only one! J. Alejandro Noli said: “Wow Sacha, I completely understand that point and let me tell you: I’m with you!”

UPDATE: Clair wrote:

I think that geeks would be more or less interested in communities
because geeks like being in communities *laugh* That is purely my
opinion though. But if you will observe the people into FOSS, we are
all interacting on a regular basis, sharing tips and new developments
or code. And if you think about it, if not for the community of geeks,
where would be FOSS now? ;) Maybe geeks aren’t the typical sociable
people but geeks seem to enjoy going together as groups :) I guess
it’s because geeks tend to have a certain focus on things we like in
common but I suppose that not all geeks are out and out very sociable.
But the sense of community is definitely there. (But as I already
mentioned earlier, this is purely my opinion, based on my
experiences.)