What is Community?

I am part of several private Facebook groups. Some are work-related, others are more personal. But one thing they all have in common is the concept of community.
So it got me thinking, what is community? Why do we want to be a part of a community?  Certainly we join a community whose members we have something in common.  It is also the place we should expect honest feedback.
I’ve written about community before.  Interesting to note that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  Here and here are a couple examples.
What better way to get an updated definition of community than to ask my community of friends what they think.  The answers were varied and I’m sharing some here (edited for space/clarity).
You can see them all of them if you’d like, by clicking over to my Facebook page.
And feel free to add your definitions below.
Alison Bailin Batz: A group of people and places connected regionally, spiritually, socially or in business.
Debra Sivley Stevens:  A group of individuals bound by a commonality that, through their care and service to one another, build a sense of belonging and value that enriches their lives.
Charlotte Morgan: A place where we put aside what may divide us and celebrate what defines us.
Suzy Svendsen:  a group of individuals connected with one common thread, supporting each other and growing together as much by their similarities, as their differences.
Alison Bendler Walsh:  A group of people who support one another and provide resources and advice for one another.
Lisa Ferguson Lochridge: People pulling together in the face of adversity. I have certainly witnessed that in these days leading up to, during, and after Hurricane Irma.
Perri Collins:  A group with a shared experience and common goals.
Kevin Thompson:  A group bound together with mutual concerns and goals and have a vested interest in the survival and success of the community.
Betina Frisone:  A group of people that share commonalities does not a community make; there has to be concern and caring for others.
Tyler Butler:  Community is the joining of forces for the common good in the same locale. It’s about the collective power of people who collaborate to make society a better place.
Anne Buchanan: A different kind of family. Sometimes even stronger than the blood version.
KG Rickhamre: Those with whom you share any interest, whatever. The “digital tribe”;-)
Katy Kelewae Reeve: People who share any number of similarities: professional, geographic (and it can be your neighborhood, city, region, state, region of the country, on and on), lifestyle, race, religion, passion (the animal rescue community, for example). As long as the common thread is valued by someone, they are part of that community.
Anne Heffernan Gray: A gathering of individuals committed to the work of ensuring the common good/mission/goal 🙂
Gina Mynatt-Galdi:  People who look out for one another and pitch in to help. It takes a village is my definition of community.
John Mallen:  I think of community in two categories: (1) people sharing a geographic space, which may fall into a jurisdiction such as a city, county or region. (2) as Karl says, people sharing interests. The interests can be social, economic, or personal.
Voncelle Mull Hunter:  People motivated by love willing to serve one another selflessly.
Susan de Queljoe:  People who feel connected in such a way that they feel responsible for others and are willing to act to support or help those in their community.
Joy Borum: People willing to be interested in other people.