Dayson describes a community as the unit in which people live, work, and play. Some communities are formal, with rules and duties, entrance requirements, and membership fees, while others are less formal groupings with "loose boundaries." People look to communities for fellowship and security. Online communities are not dependant on geography (members of a community maybe spread across the world). With distance between members being a factor, another benefit of the internet is faster communication via e-mail. Dayson also differentiates what a community is and what a culture. She then lists the basic principles of a community. Being a member of an online discussion group, Dayson is confronted with various topics (quoting others freely from their discussion). A community depends on the people in it. What you give is what you get.

Back to the top

Q: What is your idea of what makes a community?Dr.James

A: A Community is based on its memebers. What each member puts into their community determines the quality of its success.

Q: How do you feel about Ester Dyson not voting in her whole life?Jay Donlin

A: Dayson after all isn't a citizen of the U.S. She states "I feel that I have a meaningful voice and a meaningful stake in what our government does" (35). I think she's just lazy to apply for citizenship. If she was a citizen I'm sure she would vote. But, she thinks that voting doesn't make a democracy so who knows what she would do.

Q: How much of a role do you think online communities should play in policing its members?Russ Muramatsu

A: Policies of a community should be clear and simple. It's the role of the community to create policies and to uphold them.

Q: Would you think that it would be hard for a person to emerge from the virtual world into reality?Cory Egami

A: I don't think it would be hard for a person to emerge from the virtual world. Unless your kind of psychotic I think you're able to put aside the virtual world in the real world.

Q: Is there discrimination in online communities?Hyechin Kim

A: No matter what the medium, there will always be discrimination. The good thing about the internet is that you able to put on "masks" and have a different identity.

Q: What is your opinion on quoting someone on the internet?Sheri Lieberman

A: If you do quote someone from the internet you should give them credit for them. The APA even has a format for quoting information from the internet.

Q: Do you see the online community as many small communities put together or one large universal community?Valerie Iihuma

A: I feel that communities no matter how big or small is it's own entity. Each community sets its own policies which makes each one distinct.

Q: Who regulates the community?Craig Kawamura

A: No single person regualates a community. A community is made by its members. If a single person were to regulate a community, one bad move and the community could just get up and leave him behind.

Q: Are you involved in any online communites?George Pederson and Carole Agmata

A: If you consider our newsgroup a community, then I guess I am involved in a community. Other then that, then no I'm not in a online community.

Q: Do you think online citizens take the internet too seriously?Wilfred Lee

A: No, citizens have every right to take things seriously. After all, in a community, what you get is determined by you and the other members. If you don't take things seriously enough your community could fall apart.

Q: What is the smallest and largest possible online communities?Leon Mosher

A: As for the smallest possible community I would guess two members. As for the largest a community could be, the sky's the limit.

Back to the top

Truthfully, I didn't follow the directions for the oral part of the presentation. As for the questions and answer period, I thought it wasn't so bad (it could've been worse). The questions were mainly based on my opinion so it wasn't as hard to answer. For me, oral presentations are just a bit stressful, thoughts get mixed up and words just don't come out of your mouth.

Back to the top

My suggestion to future generations is to keep up with your work, check the due dates periodically, and enjoy the ride.

Back to the top

Main	My Newsgroups File	My Oral Presentation File	My Report1
Dr. Leon James Home Page	My Generations File	My Class Home Page	My Report2