Essay on In what sense are virtual communities real

In what sense(s) are virtual communities real communities? A virtual community is a network of people who interact through various forms of media, and allow users to obtain support, advice, friendship and sometimes merely just interaction with others. In a world where the internet is becoming ever more important, and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are now a part of many peoples every day lives, there is a strong sense that online, virtual communities are becoming ever more important, perhaps more so than real-life communities. This rise in the virtual communities has led to an intense debate – somewhat ironically, on the internet – as to whether these communities are, or even can be, real. The debates are†¦show more content†¦The place of â€Å"idle talk and banter with acquaintances and friends,† is often where a persons feeling of involvement in a community is achieved and experienced.3 Cafes, parks, and pubs once provided this environment, but in the age of large-scale shopping centres , drive-thru restaurants, shrinking public spaces, and residential isolation, this sense of wanting to be a part of a community is left unfulfilled. Oldenburg argues that modernity has created a culture in which the home and the workplace remain as the only two places people actively interact with others, and believes that it should not be surprising then that millions of people throughout the world turn to the Internet to re-create and re-establish the sense of community which has now been lost inShow MoreRelatedA Virtual Community By Rene Lysloff1505 Words   |  7 PagesA ‘virtual community’ is a type of imagined community and is a difficult concept to define; the ambiguous nature of this concept is highlighted by the many definitions created by researchers. A Virtual Community is when â€Å"Individuals communicate and form a relationship with each other in a computer mediated space with the use of technology. Anthropologists undergo the practice of participation observation on the internet , allowing them to experience a virtual community; this shapes their understandingRead More The Impact Of Online Communities On Physical Social Relationships1310 Words   |  6 Pagestime in online communities to network with virtual friends and play role plays. They provide an advantage for people with special needs who cannot leave the house, because they benefit from the accessibility of the internet. Moreover, they help people who often move to stay in touch with their friends. Nevertheless, spending too much time in online communities leads to drawbacks in the development of the user’s personality. More energy is dedicated to the virtual life than to real life and peopleRead MoreThe Impact of Online Communities on Physica Social Relationships1405 Words   |  6 Pagestime in online communities to network with virtual friends and play role plays. They provide an advantage for people with sp ecial needs who cannot leave the house, because they benefit from the accessibility of the internet. Moreover, they help people who often move to stay in touch with their friends. Nevertheless, spending too much time in online communities leads to drawbacks in the development of the user’s personality. More energy is dedicated to the virtual life than to real life and peopleRead More Diversity of Online Communities Essay1180 Words   |  5 PagesDiversity of Online Communities The article in U.S. News World Report called Go Play-On the Web represents a community of virtual gamers on the Internet. These games are a lot more complex than the online gaming of the past. When these people that belong to this particular community log on to the net they are interacting with each other in huge 3-D virtual worlds. Some of these games focus on a particular subject like playing virtual game shows with others on the net. Some of the new gamesRead More Internet - Exploring Our Inner-self in Cyberspace Essay1556 Words   |  7 PagesExploring Our Inner-self in Cyberspace Cyberspace is a new communication medium which enables us to understand our social behavior. In the ‘real world’ and ‘virtual world,’ we understand ourselves by developing aspects of our identity. However, in the virtual world, we can explore our inner-self without rejection that may be experienced in the real world. Cyberspace is, thus, a psychological ‘space’ to build and form, explore and discover, and accept and understand ourselves. To explain thisRead MoreExamining the Role of Technology in Consumer’s Society1448 Words   |  6 Pagesthat with technology comes social consequences as well. In consumer’s society, Sharon Zukin argues that shopping is a natural part of everyday life. (2004) Alison J. Pugh would argue that parents shop for their kids so they can help them achieve a sense of belonging in their peer groups. In this paper, I will discuss how various forms of consumption, such as online shopping, and parents buying toys, (particularly electronic games) for their kids, have contributed a shift from a collective societyRead More The Nature of Online Communities Essay1449 Words   |  6 PagesNature of Online Communities What brings people together on the internet? Is it the desire to find a friend and a community or is it the other extreme of finding someone to argue with and release all the anger that has built up inside? Do people not like who they are in real life and find the internet as a place to have a new identity, the person that they have always wanted to be? Or, is it what Rheingold states in his article â€Å"The Virtual Community,† â€Å"virtual communities treat them asRead MoreTechnology And Technology : Is It A Sense Of Distance?1750 Words   |  7 Pagesrobots can provide companionships to lonely elders and help children to overcome psychological diseases. However, interactions with the virtual world sometimes enhance individuals’ loneliness and emotional vulnerabilities. When they are busy with connecting to others digitally, they not only isolate themselves from the real world, but also may still feel a sense of distance from their online friends. Sherry Tur kle, in her essay â€Å"Alone Together†, discusses that individuals are over-relied on technologyRead MoreTypes of Virtual Reality: Advantages and Dissadvantages1064 Words   |  5 PagesA description of Virtual Reality can be a bit tricky, and the semantics might be at variance in relation to what age group you ask, for instance, a children’s site describe computer simulated environment as tools which let you to experience and interact with images in a simulated 3D environment, for example, you could plan an area at home on your computer machine and really believe that you are walking around in it, although it was never constructed. According to Aurich, Virtual Reality is a broadRead More Internet - How Real is Cyberspace? Essay1102 Words   |  5 PagesHow Real is Cyberspace? The term ‘Cyberspace’ was first coined by William Gibson and defined as â€Å"a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators† (Gibson 1984, 67). This term has come to shape the evolving universe that encompasses today’s society as Cyberspace is a realm which exists on the Internet and is becoming immensely used globally. â€Å"Online experiences challenge what many have traditionally called identity, as on the Internet many people recast identity