What exactly is 'the dolling community'? Does it even exist? When people talk about the dolling community they often mean all dollers who doll right now. Some people may mean all dollers who use a certain type of style, or base or technique, but it always refers to this moment in time. Because once dollers disappear, they are quickly forgotten. And dollers do disappear easily. So what does that mean for an individual doller who is hoping to get recognised by peers?

First we have to see who makes up our dolling community. In the beginning the dollers were scattered here and there. They gathered in little cliques, on The Palace Chat, on forums or on community sites. Though this is still true, today dollers are more likely to belong to more than one social circle online. Most dollers are still female, still aged between 14-20 and still interested in art. Some are in the community because they need something from it, to feel good about themselves. There are dollers who see dolling as a fun hobby and a way to spend some time in a creative manner. And we have people who through the art of dolling discover they'd like to pursue art more seriously.

These different groups that make up our community are never stable and focussed. Some young dollers lose interest in dolling and the friends they made as soon as their social life offline kicks in aroun 16-17. Those in need of being told how good they are and how interesting they must be, can lose interest if there is no feedback on their dolls. The group who make dolls as a hobby can lose interest when time becomes scarce or when they find something new to do. And those who move on to different creative outlets, through courses or university, often find that their focus also shifts away from dolling.

This shows you the heart of the problem with the dolling community; it's constantly moving and changing. What was accepted one year, will be unacceptable the next, because the people change and the attitude they bring changes the community. It can be both a good thing and a bad thing. It is bad, because people are lost to the community, be it talented dollers who can't continue to teach and share their knowledge and basemakers whose bases are lost to the next generation dollers. It is good, because change can mean growth as well. Next generation dollers have a chance to explore things that a previous generation was wary of.

There is a cycle or wave pattern to the dolling community. For every time a new generation comes along, veteran dollers have to adjust, or be branded arrogant and elitist, and hostile to newbies. New dollers will have to battle to find their place, and in doing so will change the community again, until they are challenged by newbies later on. For both new and veteran dollers these times of change are hard, and often it is at that time casualties fall. On both sides people will decide to stop dolling, or at least to stop participating in the dolling community.

But before a doller decides to leave, due to meeting a few individuals that were unpleasant, they should realise that leaving doesn't change or add anything. Veteran dollers may realise that their role is changing, and new dollers need to realise that taking advise and tips from older dollers can actually be helpful. We can't help people leaving the community because they are short on time, or because they lose interest. But we can make sure people stay because of a warm, challenging and nurturing community. A community is always made up of individuals, not faceless masses.