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SOME ONLINE RESOURCES ON VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
All of the sources listed below were of help in my report:
* A Resource Site for the Analysis of the Psychology of Virtual Communities
- by Storm A. King.
* Mental Health Net
- This link and the following one are provided by the above site and
several others.
* Behavior Online
* Psychology of Cyberspace
* Understanding Cult Mind Control
- Steven A. Hassan discusses his personal experiences.
* Psych Central
- Dr. John Grohol's Mental Health Page
* The World of James Sempsey III
* Are Virtual Communities a Benefit to our Society
- This page was the most helpful in my report because gives some definitions,
advantages, disadvantages, and benefits of virtual online communities.
* links provided by this site
- Some of the links are very informative, like the first by Rheingold and
some do not work.
* Virtual Communities
- Located within the site of the Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies,
this sums up what many authors have to say about virtual communities.
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WHAT ARE VIRTUAL ONLINE COMMUNITIES? WHAT IS THEIR PURPOSE? WHO CREATES THEM? WHY?
Virtual Online Communities are "places" like Web sites where people who have a common interest can "interact" by way of the Internet. Howard Rheingold, an author on the topic says it is œthe 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.? The people involved are loyal to the community in order for it to continue to exist. Also, the content of "conversations" or discussions are kept up-to-date. Like a "real-life" community, a set of enforced rules is necessary. The amount of people involved depends on the purpose of the community.
These virtual communities can serve a number of purposes from specific to broad. Some examples would be for business relations, psychological or health issues, support groups, political ideas, etc. With chat rooms and/or bulletin boards, people can share their ideas and express their opinions.
Anyone has the ability to create a virtual online community. From businesses who want loyal customers to a small group of friends who finds time to "chat" regularly. There are even communities that revolve around soap operas! - discussing current storylines and characters. The people who build virtual communities want to provide others with information and resources that are interesting, fun, helpful, and useful.
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HOW DO VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES WORK? HOW DO THEY SPREAD? WHAT TYPES ARE THERE?
A site called Builder.Com provides ten tips for building a successful online community:
1.
Test the water - discuss your idea online (through e-mail, chat
rooms, etc) before going through with it
2.
Make it a party - welcome visitors to the site and make it a fun
experience so they will return
3.
Have 'em waiting at the door - have a mailing list and invite lots
of people to come, create a "buzz" ahead of time
4.
Use your entire site to seed discussions
5.
Recruit help - volunteers or paid help to moderate the interactions
to promote "good"
conversation
6.
Set and enforce rules - decide what kind of conversation and community
is desirable
7.
Remember it is their community too - let it grow and change
8.
Project personality - the staff should have a consistent character
or attitude that encourages discussion, tasteful humor like jokes works
well
9.
Grow carefully
10.
Be a skillful moderator
Virtual Communities can attract people by using creative Web pages that first catch "surfers'" attention and then keep them interested. By providing access to discussion groups, journals, links, and other resources, people will have more reason to return, especially if they are regularly updated. Another tip that builds that sense of community is giving members the opportuniy to share their personal experiences, ideas, feelings, etc.
Two types of medium used by virtual communities are real-time chat rooms (instantaneous interaction) and bulletin boards (not real-time, where people can read postings all at one time and can contribute when they want to). This technology allows people to become part of online communities that are centered around hobbies, professions, products, or ideas.
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A CASE HISTORY OF A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY
Dance Online is a successful virtual online community based in New York, run by artists. The founder and executive director is a dancer named Andrea Sferes. The participants include dancers from all over and those interested in the dance world. It provides news, reviews, featured artists, photos, links, and of course a place called Dance Talk where people can communicate through bulletin board postings. They just require that people discuss relevant topics and avoid things that would cause harm. There is also a flag which presents security information before one is allowed to "participate." What is important about sites like this is that they allow people to search for information that could lead to jobs or provide answers to questions. They can find other people who like to discuss areas in dance which could possibly lead to some important contacts.
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WOULD I BE MEMBER OF A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY?
I find the idea of joining a virtual online community interesting but not appealing at this moment in my life because I do feel that I could devote enough time and effort into it. The availability of health opinions, resources, support, friendship, and such amazes me. I am comforted by the fact that I could become a part of one of these groups anonymously if I am in need of help or advice and when I am ready.
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WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES? HOW ARE THEY LIKE FACE-TO-FACE (OFFLINE) COMMUNITIES IN FUNCTION? COULD THERE BE AN EVOLUTION IN CYBERSPACE OF VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES LIKE THERE IS IN FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNITIES?
Virtual Communities give people options for their method of communication and interaction. They make it possible for large amounts of people worldwide to have a connection that is not so easy in the "offline" world. This technology makes it convenient to participate in discussions because it is accessible most of the time - it takes the inventions of radio, telephone, and television a few steps further. Because of a certain degree of anonymity, discrimination can be less of a problem.
Like face-to-face communities, virtual communities need to have rules (norms) to prevent problems such as verbal abuse, harassment, and discrimination. However, when you think about it, these online communities are limited to those who have access and knowledge to such technology so in some way, it becomes a social issue. In comparison to face-to-face communities, there may not be as much personal interaction like getting together, reading facial and body expressions, and personal relationships. Yet some kind of relationship does exist - feelings like trust and openness develop between people in the virtual online community. One advantage of virtual communities is that writing gives people the chance to think things over more than speaking face-to-face.
When I think about how much change has occurred - our grandparents growing up without television and the generations of today grow up knowing how to use VCRs and computers from age two, I can imagine how virtual online communities can become more like offline communities. With the ability to use videocameras with the computer, pseudo face-to-face communication online will take place like in the movies.
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TWO GENERATIONAL REPORTS ON VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES OR CYBERSPACE CITIZENSHIP
As a G7 student, Chie Ginama's report on Acquiring Cyberspace Citizenship seemed like most in her class because of the assignment instructions. First, she goes over her ratings for the experience of the class during the different weeks. She starts with it being a pleasant experience but as she continues, it becomes more stressful. She ends up being fairly satisfied with her time spent doing classwork over the internet. After that, Chie looks at reports from prior generations, finding ways to relate to the humor of their experiences and stating what she likes and dislikes. Then, she does the same with those in her own generation, for example she noticed how so many people go through a kind of fear and frustration, but realize how it is worth it. I felt that she basically covered my thoughts too with it, but I never really thought that it would be easy.
I also
chose a G5 student, David
Kahoaka's report on Cyberspace and Mind. He discovers how
vast cyberspace is and states the interesting point that "what doesn't
get used, doesn't exist." One thing that I really like about his
page is that he goes beyond what is expected and adds additional links
that are useful and fun, like new movies. Like all of the reports
that the classes have to do, he looks through the reports of other generations.
He reiterates what this class has been trying to teach us - that by using
the Internet more, we become better at it and this expansive resource will
become more useful to us. I agree with this because, even though
my improvements are minimal, I have learned to do things that I never knew
were available to me.
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A COMPARISON TO OTHER STUDENTS' REPORTS IN THE CLASS
I really enjoyed how in detail Greg Suguitan talked about virtual communities. The information in his report is precise and he seems to know a great deal about the subject. Also, he provides graphics and many links to assist the reader. His page is very clean, in addition to being bright and attractive.
David Chang and a few other students also made the excellent point that this psychology class is a community. I did not think of it in that way, but somehow, we all made that connection! Roy Macaraeg also did a very complete report that is pleasing and easy to read through.
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CONCLUSION
I am certainly not an expert at doing this kind of report. It really takes some time to get used to the world of computers and I certainly am not there yet! I am surprised at how much I have gained as a result of this class. I still do not feel that I know enough to publish a report like this because not everything makes sense to me all the time.
I do know that although there are going to be debates over how much our society can benefit from Virtual Online Communities, it is a part of the evolution of communication. I hope students in the future can use some of the sources I found and find ways to make doing their assignments with a little less stress. One thing that would have made it easier to do the assignment would be if students' reports could also be organized by categories, but that is just me being a bit lazy!
