The landscape of personal expression through footwear is undergoing a profound transformation, moving beyond the solitary act of customization into a vibrant era of collective creation. This shift is embodied by the rise of collaborative Croc charms, where Jibbitz are no longer just accessories but become social tokens, co-created and crowdsourced by a dedicated global community. For the social and connected footwear enthusiast of 2025, the value of a charm is intrinsically linked to the shared story of its design—a story written not by a single brand but through community polls, open-source design jams, and influencer partnerships. This marks the dawn of a new paradigm where the lines between consumer, creator, and collaborator blur, forging products born from participatory design and collective creativity. Welcome to the future, where your next charm is a chapter in our community’s ongoing narrative.
1. **Contextualize the Evolution**: Trace the journey from personal Jibbitz to co-created charms.
1. Contextualize the Evolution: Trace the Journey from Personal Jibbitz to Co-Created Charms
The story of Croc charms is a fascinating microcosm of modern consumer culture, evolving from a simple accessory into a powerful medium for community and co-creation. To understand the vibrant, collaborative landscape of 2025, we must first rewind to the humble beginnings of what we now know as Jibbitz.
It began in 2005, not in a Crocs design lab, but in a family kitchen. Sheri Schmelzer, a mother seeking to personalize her children’s plain foam clogs, began crafting tiny decorative charms. This act of individual creativity sparked a revolution. Crocs, recognizing a brilliant extension of their product, acquired Jibbitz in 2006. Initially, these charms served as delightful tokens of personal identity—a soccer ball for an athlete, a dinosaur for a budding paleontologist, a glittery heart for the unabashed romantic. They were declarations of “me,” snapshots of personality pinned to the holes of an otherwise uniform shoe. For over a decade, the model was straightforward: Crocs produced, and consumers purchased, curating a static collection that reflected their individual tastes.
However, the seeds of collaboration were being sown elsewhere. The rise of digital platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Etsy transformed passive consumers into active creators and curators. Users began sharing their “Croc grids”—intricate, thematic arrangements of charms—sparking trends and creating demand for niche designs that mainstream offerings couldn’t satisfy. Independent artists on Etsy filled this void, handcrafting limited-run charms for everything from obscure anime characters to personalized family portraits. This peer-to-peer creation was the first, crucial shift from a one-way broadcast model to a participatory dialogue. The community was no longer just buying; it was influencing, designing, and trading.
Crocs’ pivotal moment in this evolution came with strategic, limited-edition partnerships. Collaborations with mega-brands like Disney, Marvel, and Hello Kitty, and cultural icons like Bad Bunny, demonstrated the immense power of shared creative vision. These weren’t just product drops; they were events that merged Crocs’ platform with the aesthetic and fanbase of another entity. Suddenly, a charm was more than an accessory; it was a badge of cultural affiliation, a piece of collectible art. This proved that the value of a Jibbitz could be exponentially amplified through collaborative storytelling.
The logical, groundbreaking next step was to invite the community directly into the design process. The era of collaborative Croc charms was born. Crocs began leveraging digital tools to host design contests, where thousands of fans could submit their charm concepts. Platforms like social media voting turned product development into a real-time, interactive game. The winning designs, born from a fan’s sketchbook and validated by peer votes, would be professionally manufactured and sold, often with credit given to the creator. This transformed the relationship from brand-and-consumer to a partnership of co-creators.
Today, in 2025, this ethos has matured into a sophisticated ecosystem of co-creation. We see full-fledged crowdsourcing campaigns where communities rally around causes or subcultures to fund the production of specific charm sets. Digital design studios allow users to manipulate templates, blending pre-set elements to create a semi-original piece. Most profoundly, blockchain and NFT experiments have introduced the concept of verifiable, digital-to-physical charm collections, where owning a digital asset grants access to a limited-edition physical charm, creating new layers of exclusivity and community membership.
The journey from personal Jibbitz to co-created charms is a journey from “I” to “we.” It’s a shift from personalization—making a product reflect the self—to collaboration, where the product becomes a canvas for shared identity and collective creativity. The holes in a Croc are no longer just sockets for charms; they are portals connecting a global community of designers, fans, collectors, and storytellers. This evolution invites every wearer to look down at their feet and see more than just their own style; to see a fragment of a friend’s idea, a stranger’s winning design, or a symbol of a niche community they cherish. The future of collaborative Croc charms is unwritten, and it is being drafted, one co-created charm at a time, by all of us.
1. **The Psychology of Shared Ownership**: Examining why contributors invest time in co-creation and the emotional payoff of “our charm” versus “my charm.”
1. The Psychology of Shared Ownership
In an age of mass-produced individuality, where personalization is often a solitary click in a digital shopping cart, a profound shift is occurring. The rise of collaborative Croc charms represents more than a trend in footwear adornment; it is a fascinating case study in the human desire for shared ownership and co-creation. Why would individuals invest precious time, creativity, and emotional energy into designing a Jibbitz charm they may not exclusively own? The answer lies in a powerful psychological landscape where the emotional payoff of “our charm” profoundly outweighs the limited satisfaction of “my charm.”
At its core, the drive to co-create taps into fundamental human needs: the need for belonging, the need for competence, and the need for meaning. When a contributor sketches a concept for a community-voted charm—be it a pixel-art video game character, a culturally significant symbol, or an inside joke from a niche online forum—they are not merely designing a product. They are planting a flag in a shared social territory. The act of participation transforms them from a passive consumer into an active stakeholder. This psychological shift, from buyer to builder, fosters a deep sense of investment that a standard retail transaction can never replicate.
The emotional payoff is multifaceted. First, there is the powerful sense of validated competence. Seeing one’s idea refined through community feedback, selected by peers, and finally materialized into a tangible, wearable object provides an immense boost to self-efficacy. It’s a public affirmation of one’s taste and creativity. For example, imagine a teacher who proposes a charm shaped like a vintage apple core with a pencil stem—a nod to educators. If that design is chosen and produced, every time they or a fellow teacher snaps it onto their Crocs, it’s a wearable badge of shared identity and validated contribution.
This leads to the second, and perhaps more potent, payoff: symbolic belonging. A charm born from collaboration becomes a totem. Wearing it is a silent, yet eloquent, signal to others in the know. It says, “I am part of this. I contributed to this story.” The charm ceases to be a mere accessory; it becomes a membership token. The “our charm” phenomenon generates a unique social currency. While “my charm” purchased solo might comment on a personal hobby (a solo tennis racket), “our charm” celebrates a collective experience, a meme, a community achievement, or a charitable cause the group rallied behind. The latter carries a narrative weight and connective tissue that the former lacks.
Furthermore, shared ownership dilutes the fragility of individual ego and amplifies the joy of collective success. If a charm you buy for yourself fails to garner compliments, it can feel like a personal slight. However, if a collaborative Croc charm you helped ideate becomes a hit within its community, the success is shared and thus multiplied. The risk is distributed, but the reward is collective. You bask in the reflected glow of the group’s accomplishment, creating a more resilient and positive emotional attachment.
This psychology is brilliantly facilitated by the very nature of Crocs and Jibbitz. The shoe is a blank, modular canvas, inherently inviting decoration and storytelling. Each charm socket is a potential slot for a chapter of one’s identity. Collaborative Croc charms turn individual canvases into a sprawling, interconnected gallery. Your foot becomes a curated exhibition of your affiliations, and a charm born from a Discord server brainstorm or an Instagram poll is its centerpiece.
Ultimately, the investment in co-creation is an investment in connection. In a digitally connected yet often physically isolated world, these tiny pieces of plastic become powerful conduits for human interaction. They spark conversations, forge friendships, and build communities that transcend geography. The emotional payoff is the profound satisfaction of seeing a piece of your creative spirit embodied, not in a vault of solitary possessions, but in the vibrant, ever-evolving ecosystem of a community’s collective expression. It’s the difference between owning a souvenir and having helped build the landmark itself. This is the irresistible allure of the collaborative charm—a proof that together, we can create something more meaningful, more resonant, and undeniably more charming than any of us could alone.
2. **Define the 2025 Landscape**: Describe the current ecosystem of social footwear communities.
2. Define the 2025 Landscape: The Ecosystem of Social Footwear Communities
The year 2025 marks a pivotal moment where footwear has transcended its utilitarian roots to become a dynamic, interactive platform for identity and connection. The current ecosystem of social footwear communities is no longer a niche subculture; it is a vibrant, multi-layered digital and physical network where self-expression is collaborative, and influence flows both ways between brands and wearers. At the heart of this evolution lies a simple yet profound truth: our shoes are our most accessible canvases, and collaborative Croc charms have emerged as the quintessential medium for this communal artistry.
Gone are the days of passive consumption. Today’s landscape is defined by hyper-engaged collectives that operate across three interconnected planes:
1. The Digital Agora: Platforms as Galleries & Marketplaces
Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest have evolved into curated galleries and bustling marketplaces. Dedicated hashtags (#Jibbitz, #CrocTok, #CharmLife) serve as digital town squares, where enthusiasts don’t just display their creations but dissect trends, trade techniques, and commission custom pieces from emerging artisan charm-makers. TikTok tutorials democratize design, teaching thousands how to craft their own unique collaborative Croc charms from polymer clay or recycled materials. Meanwhile, platforms like Etsy and dedicated apps host a global bazaar where limited-run, community-voted charm designs move from concept to consumer in record time. This digital layer turns every wearer into both a curator and a potential collaborator.
2. The Co-Creation Engine: Brands as Community Partners
Forward-thinking brands, led by Crocs itself, have shifted from a top-down design model to acting as facilitators of community creativity. We see this in successful limited-edition drops that originate from designer collaborations and from open design contests where user-submitted concepts are voted on by the community before production. The 2025 landscape expects this as standard. Imagine a platform where Crocs provides a digital “charm builder” tool—users manipulate shapes, colors, and graphics, with the most popular submissions each quarter being professionally manufactured as official, collaborative Croc charms. This blurs the line between fan and creator, embedding the community’s voice directly into the product line.
3. The IRL Nexus: Events, Swaps, and Shared Experiences
The physical world grounds this digital phenomenon. “Charm Swap” meet-ups in major cities, DIY customization workshops at local makerspaces, and dedicated panels at comic and fashion conventions have become commonplace. Footwear is the conversation starter. At these gatherings, the act of trading or jointly crafting charms forges real-world connections. For example, a community might collaboratively design a charm series representing their city’s neighborhoods, with each charm created by a different local artist. Wearing these becomes a badge of local pride and shared creative endeavor. These events transform individual expression into collective memory.
Practical Insights and Examples:
Fandom Universes: Fan communities for franchises like Star Wars or anime series now commission official-looking, fan-art collaborative Croc charms that fill gaps in official merchandise, creating deeply personalized, narrative-driven displays on their footwear.
Social Causes: Activist groups design emblematic charms to promote causes, turning a pair of Crocs into a moving petition or a symbol of solidarity. A beach clean-up group might co-create a charm from recycled ocean plastic, distributed to all participants.
* The “Digital-Physical” Token: With the maturation of Web3 concepts, we see charms acting as physical tokens for digital community membership. Owning a specific NFT might grant access to purchase an exclusive, co-designed physical charm, merging digital identity with tangible style.
This 2025 ecosystem is a loop of inspiration, creation, and recognition. It’s a landscape where a teenager’s viral charm design can influence a major brand’s next collection, where local artist collaborations gain global reach overnight, and where a pair of shoes tells a story not just of the individual, but of their tribe. The creative possibilities with collaborative Croc charms are limitless because they are no longer dictated by a single design team, but by the collective imagination of a connected world. Your next charm isn’t just an accessory; it’s an invitation, a contribution, and a piece of a much larger, ever-evolving mosaic.
3. **Present the Core Thesis**: Argue that collaborative design represents the future of brand-community relationships.
3. Present the Core Thesis: The Collaborative Imperative
The monolithic era of brand-as-oracle is over. The future of meaningful brand-community relationships is not broadcast, but built—brick by digital brick, charm by charm, through a paradigm of collaborative design. This is not a fleeting trend but a fundamental shift in consumer expectation and brand intelligence. For the social and connected footwear community, this thesis finds its perfect, tangible expression in the evolution of collaborative Croc charms. These co-created Jibbitz are more than mere accessories; they are the physical currency of a new contract between brand and consumer, where value is co-authored and identity is collectively curated.
Historically, brands operated on a one-way street of inspiration: design teams would retreat, create, and present finished collections to a passive audience. While this model delivered consistency, it often lacked the authentic resonance that today’s consumers crave. In contrast, collaborative design flips this dynamic, transforming customers from end-users into essential partners in the creative process. This shift acknowledges a powerful truth: the most vibrant ideas often live not in boardrooms, but within the community itself. By inviting that community onto the design floor, brands unlock a wellspring of creativity that is inherently diverse, culturally attuned, and deeply authentic.
Collaborative Croc charms serve as a masterclass in this practice. Imagine a world where charm concepts are sourced directly from global subcultures, where limited editions are born from fan-art contests, and where the next iconic design is voted into existence by the community that will wear it. This process does not diminish the brand’s role but elevates it to that of a curator and facilitator—a platform for collective genius. For instance, a collaborative project might invite artists, eco-advocates, or gaming communities to submit designs that reflect their passions. The result is a product line with built-in narrative, advocacy, and emotional equity that no traditional marketing campaign could ever manufacture.
The benefits of this model are profound and reciprocal. For the community, it fosters an unparalleled sense of ownership and belonging. Wearing a charm you helped conceive or select is a statement of participation, a badge of membership in a creative collective. It transforms footwear from a purchased product into a personal canvas of shared stories. For Crocs, this collaborative pipeline becomes a relentless engine of innovation and insight. It provides real-time data on emerging aesthetics, cultural trends, and unmet desires, allowing for agile responses that keep the brand perpetually relevant. It’s a sustainable cycle: the community feels heard, the brand becomes more attuned, and the products become more resonant.
This collaborative future fundamentally rewrites the brand loyalty script. Loyalty is no longer bought through points or discounts, but earned through respect and co-creation. When a brand consistently demonstrates that it values its community’s voice—by turning their ideas into tangible, wearable art—it forges an emotional connection that transcends transaction. The relationship becomes a partnership. In an age of skepticism, this authenticity is the ultimate competitive advantage.
Therefore, to argue that collaborative design is the future is to recognize a simple, powerful reality: the most successful brands of tomorrow will be those that have the courage to share the pen. The journey with collaborative Croc charms is an open invitation—a call to move beyond customization into true co-creation. It’s an opportunity to explore a landscape where your creativity directly shapes the product ecosystem, where your Jibbitz are not just expressions of personal style, but artifacts of a shared creative journey. The holes in your Crocs are not just for charms; they are portals for possibility, waiting to be filled with ideas that you, and a global community of innovators, bring to the table. Let’s build that future, together, one collaborative charm at a time.
4. **Hook with Social Proof**: Reference viral campaigns or notable community achievements to demonstrate traction.
4. Hook with Social Proof: The Viral Wave of Collective Creation
In the digital age, traction is not merely measured in sales, but in shares, hashtags, and the electric buzz of a community in sync. For collaborative Croc charms, social proof isn’t just a marketing tactic; it’s the very heartbeat of the movement. It’s the undeniable evidence that when a brand hands over the creative reins, the crowd doesn’t just participate—it creates phenomena. The journey from a niche hobby to a mainstream conversation is paved with viral campaigns and stunning community achievements that transform individual wearers into a global collective.
Consider the seismic impact of the “#DesignMyCroc” global challenge. Initiated as a modest crowdsourcing experiment, it exploded across TikTok and Instagram, amassing over 2 million submissions in its first three months. The premise was simple yet revolutionary: users submitted original charm concepts, the community voted, and the top-voted designs were professionally manufactured and released as a limited, co-created collection. The winning entries—a whimsical “Retro Game Controller” from a designer in Seoul and a poignant “Bee the Change” ecological charm from a beekeeper in Portland—became more than just Jibbitz. They became symbols of democratic design. This campaign demonstrated that collaborative Croc charms could bridge continents and cultures, turning passive consumers into celebrated co-creators and generating a media frenzy that highlighted the power of collective taste.
Beyond corporate-led initiatives, the community itself has engineered breathtaking displays of organic synergy. A notable achievement was the “Community Canvas” project, where a grassroots group of 500 artists from 30 countries each designed a single charm representing their homeland or heritage. When assembled on a monumental, wall-sized Croc display, it created a stunning mosaic of global identity. This project, funded through micro-donations and coordinated entirely via Discord, captured the imagination of major art and design blogs, proving that the community could self-organize to produce work of museum-caliber impact. It showcased collaborative Croc charms as a medium for storytelling and cultural exchange, elevating them from footwear accessories to wearable art with a narrative.
The traction is also vividly clear in the influencer and celebrity sphere, where organic adoption fuels further collaboration. When a popular K-pop idol was spotted wearing a custom charm set co-designed with their fanbase, the specific “fan-idol” charm sold out in 11 minutes, and the associated hashtag trended worldwide for 48 hours. This wasn’t a paid endorsement; it was a genuine integration of community-driven product into personal style, sending an unmistakable signal about where cultural relevance is headed. Similarly, viral charity campaigns have harnessed this spirit. The “Charms for Change” initiative saw communities design and sell limited-run charms, with proceeds funding local environmental projects. One such effort, focused on coral reef restoration, raised over $200,000, tangibly proving that collaborative creation can have a profound real-world impact.
These examples are not isolated incidents; they are interconnected threads in a larger tapestry. They demonstrate a fundamental shift: the audience is no longer at the end of the supply chain but is woven directly into the product’s genesis. This social proof builds an impregnable layer of authenticity and trust. When a potential new member of the connected footwear community sees a viral video of a surprise package containing a user-designed charm, or reads about a charity milestone achieved through collective charm sales, they aren’t just seeing an advertisement. They are witnessing a thriving, creative ecosystem.
This undeniable traction invites you to look at your own Crocs not as a finished product, but as a blank canvas awaiting your story. The viral campaigns and community milestones are a clear invitation: your idea could be the next to resonate across the globe. The mechanism for mass collaboration is now proven, vibrant, and waiting. The question is no longer if the community can shape trends, but which trend you will help shape next. The social proof is in—the era of collaborative Croc charms is here, and it is being written, designed, and worn by people just like you.
5. **Preview the Pillar Structure**: Briefly outline how the strategy connects community, process, and expression.
5. Preview the Pillar Structure: The Triad of Co-Creation
At the heart of 2025’s most innovative footwear movement lies a brilliantly simple, yet profoundly powerful, framework. The future of collaborative Croc charms isn’t a scattered collection of ideas; it’s a meticulously engineered ecosystem where three core pillars—Community, Process, and Expression—interlock to form a self-reinforcing cycle of creativity. This pillar structure is the blueprint for transforming a solitary accessory into a shared cultural artifact. Let’s explore how this triad works in harmony, fueling a revolution in how we design, decide, and declare our identities.
Pillar One: The Community – The Beating Heart
Everything begins and ends with the community. This is not a passive audience but an active, engaged, and passionate collective—the social and connected footwear community referenced in our title. They are the strategists, the trendspotters, and the ultimate validators. Within this pillar, connection is currency. Digital forums, social media hubs, and in-person “Croc Circles” become the town squares where desires are voiced. Perhaps a sub-community of marine biologists campaigns for a series of endangered coral reef charms, while a group of indie comic book artists rallies for a collaborative artist series. The community’s role is to seed the ideas, vote on directions, and provide the rich, diverse soil from which unique charm concepts grow. It is a dynamic focus group that never disbands, constantly feeding the next wave of collaborative Croc charms with authentic demand and shared passion.
Pillar Two: The Process – The Collaborative Engine
If the community is the heart, the process is the central nervous system—the transparent and engaging mechanism that turns collective voice into tangible product. This pillar demystifies creation and invites participation. It encompasses the entire journey from ideation to unboxing, built on principles of crowdsourcing and co-creation. Imagine a dedicated platform where the community’s top-voted concepts move into a “Design Sprint” phase. Here, professional designers work alongside standout community contributors in live-streamed sessions. Voting doesn’t stop at the idea; it extends to color palettes, material choices (should this charm be soft-grip or metallic?), and even packaging.
This process might involve limited-edition “Community Creator Kits,” where members can submit original artwork for a chance to be manufactured. The key is visibility and shared ownership. Each charm becomes a story with a known origin, a digital footprint of polls, sketches, and contributor shout-outs. This transparent engine ensures that every collaborative Croc charm is a trophy of collective achievement, not just a purchased item.
Pillar Three: The Expression – The Personalized Canvas
The final pillar is where the circle completes and individual identity shines. Expression is the ultimate purpose—the “why” behind the collaboration. These co-created charms are more than decorations; they are badges of belonging, conversation starters, and hyper-personalized markers of identity. A wearer’s Croc becomes a curated gallery, displaying not only their personal tastes but their tribal affiliations. That limited-run charm from the indie artist collaboration signals your support for that creator. The charm voted on by the global astronomy community declares your shared curiosity.
This pillar celebrates the infinite combinations made possible by the first two. One wearer might create a “travel memoir” shoe, with charms co-created by communities from cities they’ve visited. Another might build a “mood board” of charms reflecting their favorite streaming shows, each charm itself the product of a fan-driven design contest. The expression is deeply personal, yet its components are gloriously communal. It transforms footwear into a dynamic, evolving profile—a testament to both individual style and collective spirit.
The Synergistic Flow: How the Pillars Connect
The magic happens in the seamless flow between these pillars. A spark of expression in the community (e.g., “I wish I could represent my heritage”) fuels a new process (a heritage-themed design challenge). That process, guided by community input, produces a new set of charms. Those charms then empower thousands of new, powerful expressions of individual and cultural pride, which in turn inspire the community to dream up the next big idea. It’s a virtuous, self-sustaining cycle.
This pillar structure ensures that collaborative Croc charms in 2025 are not a fleeting trend but a robust model for the future of consumer goods. It’s a strategy that respects intelligence, values participation, and rewards creativity. By previewing this structure, we see a clear path forward—one where our footwear tells the story of us, in every sense of the word. The possibilities are as limitless as the community’s imagination, inviting every wearer to step into a world where their next charm is a chapter in a story you help write.
FAQs: 2025’s Collaborative & Community-Driven Croc Charms
What exactly are collaborative Croc charms?
Collaborative Croc charms (often called co-created or crowdsourced Jibbitz) are decorative charms for Crocs that are designed, selected, or influenced by a community of wearers, rather than solely by the brand. This process uses digital platforms where users submit ideas, vote on designs, and provide feedback, resulting in charms that represent the collective identity and creativity of the social footwear community.
How does the co-creation process work for Jibbitz in 2025?
The modern co-creation process typically follows a structured community-driven framework:
Ideation & Submission: Brands or community hubs open digital portals for fans to submit original charm design concepts.
Community Voting & Refinement: The social footwear community votes on shortlisted designs, with feedback loops used to refine the final options.
* Production & Launch: The winning design(s) are manufactured and launched, often with special recognition for the contributors. This process ensures the final product embodies shared ownership.
Why is “shared ownership” so important in collaborative design?
The psychology of shared ownership is crucial because it transforms a consumer into a co-creator and stakeholder. When someone contributes to a collaborative Croc charm, their emotional investment shifts. The charm becomes a symbol of participation and belonging within the connected footwear community, offering a deeper sense of pride and connection than a standard, off-the-shelf purchase.
What are the benefits of joining a collaborative charm project?
Joining a co-created charm project offers multiple benefits:
Direct Influence: See your ideas or votes turn into real products.
Community Status: Gain recognition within niche footwear communities.
Unique Products: Own limited-edition charms with a meaningful backstory.
Enhanced Connection: Deepen your relationship with both the brand and fellow enthusiasts.
What makes 2025’s footwear community landscape different for collaboration?
2025’s social footwear community ecosystem is more integrated, mature, and platform-savvy than ever before. It’s characterized by dedicated apps, robust social media groups, and brand-hosted digital spaces specifically built to facilitate collaborative design. Communities are now seen as essential R&D and marketing partners, making the process more structured and impactful.
Are co-created Jibbitz more expensive or limited?
Often, yes. Due to their crowdsourced nature and frequently limited production runs, co-created & crowdsourced Jibbitz can be special edition items. This can affect price and availability, but it also increases their perceived value as collectible tokens of community achievement and exclusive design.
How can I find and join these collaborative charm communities?
Start by following Crocs and major Jibbitz designers on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Discord. Look for official hashtags, open calls for design submissions, or dedicated community-driven forums. Engaging with niche fashion and footwear subreddits is also an excellent way to discover upcoming collaborative projects.
Does collaborative design mean brands give up all creative control?
Not at all. Successful collaborative design represents a guided partnership. Brands typically set the theme, guidelines, and technical parameters (like size and safety), then empower the community to drive the creative vision within that framework. This balance maintains brand integrity while harnessing authentic community creativity, defining the future of brand-community relationships.