The structure behind Bender's view of community reflects the technological structure upon which today's online communities exist. The Internet is the interconnection of smaller networks. As such, the Internet provides the glue which connects other networks together. Banes' initial definition of community translates to saying people living in New York City are part of the community of New York City. As everyone knows, New York City is a large place.
People are still proud to say they are from New York City and relate to things New York.
However, New York can also be an isolated and alienating place, and thanks to developing technology, the contemporary concept of community in New York is evolving in ways similar to Bender's model. The '60s had the soapbox, the '90s have computer networks. People are communicating with other people both locally and globally in public discussion forums such as Usenet newsgroups and mailing lists and through private email. Bender's idea of ever-changing, overlapping communities is similar to what Licklider foresaw for social communities as a result of computer communications. The fluidity of such group dynamics leads to a quickening of the creation of new ideas.