Online communities provide an environment for facilitating creation, access, reuse, and sharing of knowledge. In addition they offer the following benefits:

• Users learn of others who are doing similar things and can share their experience to help one another
• Users learn of “experts” who can help them in their endeavors
• Users can share/collaborate to bring embryonic ideas to realization
• Users can share “stories’ that help others learn from their experience (especially considering the Boomer defection over the next five years)
• Those who are new are connected with those who are in the know and can coach and support new learning

Source: Learning Lab and Innovation