Virtual Communities
Description:
The term virtual communities can be defined as online environments in which people with common interests, values, opinions, etc. can socially interact. In The Virtual Community written by Howard Rheingold virtual communities are defined as "social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace."(1) Virtual communities provide people with the opportunity to interact with likeminded individuals instantaneously from anywhere on the globe.
Virtual communities are considered a vital aspect of the Web 2.0 concept, which depends upon social interaction and exchange between users online. An important philosophy behind web 2.0 is that it is a social phenomenon referring to an approach to creating and distributing Web content itself, characterized by open communication, decentralization of authority, freedom to share and re-use, and "the market as a conversation".
Enablers:
- Low cost of Internet Connections
- Mobility
- The Increasing Use of Internet
- Globalization
- Business in Society
- Community Feeling
- Increasing Mobility
- The Globalization of Culture (or Cultural Globalization)
- Need for Information On Demand
- People's need for communication and information
- Power of Information-anywhere, everywhere
Inhibitors:
- Growing privacy and security concerns
- People fear incrimination for remarks they have made on the web why is monitored by authorities
- Fear that time spent in virtual communities detracts from social skills in the real world
Paradigms:
Experts:
Timing:
Web Resources:
(1) Howard Rheingold's The Virtual Community
(2) Wikipedia: Virtual communities