Introduction: What are Virtual Online Communities?
| Sources |
| http://rdz.stjohns.edu/~storm |
| http://www.behavior.net/mhn/bolforum/message/32 |
| http://www.shassan.com |
| http://www.grohol.com |
| http://www.netaxs.com/~jamesiii/papers.htm |
Introduction: What are Virtual Online Communities? Online communities are sites (like homepages) or groups of sites that have a regular groups of participants within them. These visitors communicate with each other through chatrooms, email, or newsgroup bulletin boards. There are a variety of subjects that a community would be centered around and can be as general or specific as the groups defines their subject. Virtual Online Communities can interact synchronously (CU-CME, Chat rooms) or asynchronously (email, Bulletin Boards).
What is their purpose? Who Creates them? Well, virtual online communities (VOC) reason for existrance is as varied as the VOC themselves. The purpose depends on the type of group that is formed. For example, a VOC can be created in a chatroom in the ESPNchatroom for the upcoming United States National Team and its early exit. This chatroom has a lot of people from outside the US who think that US soccer is a joke and there are the Americans who jealously defned their country and team, even if it doesn't have John Harkes on the squad this summer. Other examples get more interesting and focused one self-help and social psychology where communities are formed from support groups such as alcohol-related support groups or drug-related groups. The emphasis in these groups has also been anonymity which has enabled groups members to be more open and honest which has greatly helped groups members with their therapy or help. This is a possible reason that these online therapy groups has reached certain success. I have learned throughout the semesterthat the internet has unlimited possibilities when it comes to communication. People love to interact and the internet makes it possible to do just that faster, cheaper, and with a broader spectrum of people than ever before. Because of this, I think that VOCs were created so people can interact with each other about a variety of things s light as meeting new people or as heavy as bereavement support groups. People create these communities to interact with each other. Most often without knowing it, creators of webpages will attract people with similar interests, and, through either word of mouth or proper advertising, sites grow as the internet grows. How Do Virtual Communities Work? In order for VOCs to work, communication has to take place within that site, either in real time (synchronous) such as CU-CME and chatrooms, or on a delayed basis (asynchronous) such as email or bulletin boards. After that has been established, some form of advertising has to take place, either through the META tag in the html document, or on a similar bulletin board. Like all pages that succeed, a VOC oriented page has to be maintained regularly in order for people to get the most updated information and the best communication possible. People create VOCs for a variety of reasons, but social interaction is a vital part of the page's survival on the net. There are a lot of ways to create the atmosphere to attract people, such as a party atmosphere, lots of animation, little text, and many links to different places on the page and on the net. The biggest challenge for web designers today is to create pages people want to come and interact with. There are many types of VOCs and they range from shopping pages where people can buy and sell goods and services to support groups. There are "singles" pages where people can meet others on the net. There are places for sports enthusiasts, sex enthusiasts, computer enthusiasts, Jesus enthusiasts, and every type of enthusiast under the sun. The types all vary as much as there is content on the web that varies greatly. Case History Well, the case history that comes to mind is the ESPN Soccer Chatroom. I am a soccer player and coach, so this site was very inviting and I decided to visit the site, which was password protected. I went through ESPN and got my assigned password, and I met some interesting people. I was weary at first, so I used my fiancee's ex-boyfriend's name, which was Greg. ESPN, in my opinion is first-rate when it comes to a sports community because they are worldwide as far as television broadcasting is concerned, and they bing the entire world of sports right to your monitor with their page. I like to go back because their scores are reported as soon as the event is finished, which makes this sight ideal for the person interested in scores from around the world without having to wiat the next day for the scores in the paper. What impresses me is they are an American company, yet their coverage of soccer in the United States, from the National Teams to Major League Soccer, to the World Cup is the best I have seen in a country where people think soccer isn't worth the money for a ticket or two to enjoy. We are too Football, Baseball, and Basketball in this country and soccer has no place here. That's too bad because the rest of the world thinks otherwise. Besides, I would watch Mia Hamm over the Dallas Cowboys any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Would I be a Member? Well, would I? Sure. I already am. I may not buy things over the net, or chat too much, or even post messages on bulletin boards, but I go to the same pages every time I am on the net and I keep doing the same things over and over. If anyone is interested on what pages I like to mill through, check out my Links.
Significance of Virtual Online Communities The significance of VOCs is that it does, in my humble opinion, keep people coming to the web instead of other mediums. That is important because as communication gets more and more complex, the web is on the forefront of making people come closer together. I think that VOCs will grow as the web becomes the leader in the communication field, taking over other mediums for communication, such as television, telephone, and even travel, much like the web has virtually eliminated standard letter writing. VOCs will be more and more significant with the growing popularity of the web. VOCs will also be important with people relating with others who have similar interests and needs.
I cheated. Sorry. I was so hooked on our generation that I chose the best two from Generation 8.
Report 1 Well, I really liked Case History. it's better than mine because she defines what a community is, their origin (bulletin boards), and other really neat stuff. Report 2 The last one I used was virtual communities and he gives definitions of its purpose, creation, and ways to make a VOC really stand out.
Taking the Next Generational Step... As for advice for the other generations, realize that VOCs are a very large part of the web and you might to realize that you are an unsuspecting member of a community. Another thing, be nice to Dr. James because he is a great teacher and his class is cutting edge. There is a lot to be learned on the web, and communities are a vital part of the overall growth on the web. We are social animals and we flock to other people that have the same interests. That was the origin of the virtual community, and we must realize that with the power the web has to bring people who are worlds apart closer together, we can have so many relationships that we never dreamed possible not long ago....
Generational Reports on Virtual Online Communities
