Common Interests Associations

A common interest association is formed by a group of individuals who have similar interests and get together to share information and to work collectively for a common interest. They provide unique opportunities to network with other people with similar interests. In rapidly changing societies, common interest associations are a way to bond with the community. In these societies, people join interest groups because they believe in the purpose of the group, need support, or need information for themselves. There is a great diversity of groups that range from economic, spiritual, artistic, recreational, public interest, and ethnic groups. Many individuals are away from their families due to work, school, etc, and seek to belong to a group in order to feel accepted and to look for companion. These groups can vary from a hobby such as knitting to a political party. Some of these groups get to be so influential between their members that they are considered a subculture. The involvement of the individual in a group depends on how much free time is available to how much he or she believes in the cause. These groups are voluntary and could be either free to join or have a membership fee, normally to collect funds for the group or to make sure that only people that are truly interested join the group.

In recent years, common interests associations have been evolving due to technology progress. This is possible thanks to the internet and social networking. Social networking has become very popular with people of all ages because it gives them the chance to stay in touch with relatives, friends, classmates. It also allows them to create common interests associations organized by workplace, school, neighborhood, etc that can reach practically anybody in the world. This can be considered a positive thing since people can have access to unlimited amounts of information and can reach a much larger group of people, but it could also have negative connotations...