Virtual communities.

The notion of virtual communities differs quite greatly from "real" communication.

Community is basically a network of relationships, and it would seem that more and more people use the internet for these. With online communities, individuals can talk to a number of people at one time, building relations via the computer, without really knowing the reciever at all.

Virtual communities- good vs the bad?

Personally, I think the overall effects and impact of online communities is negative, as they "encourage disengagement from real communities". Although for the sake of communicating, virtual communities bring positvity, the use of virtual communitites isn't suffieicent enough for any real kind of relationship. I really don't think that a substainable relationship or frienship can be "real" or "true" if only expressed via the internet. Virtual communities bring a lack of validity to the internet, we don't know that the people we are talking to are "true" and its not reality, its just not real. Well, thats what I think anyway.

On the other hand, I can see why people use online virtual communitites as they are beneficial to people who have confidence issues and wish to stay in touch with friends and family, as using the internet is convinient. I understand how for some people it suits them more to use the internet as an aid of communication, especially in todyas world when we are contantly being offered new technologies.

"Information wants to be free" (Stuart Brand - founding member of The Well). Reading this quote, I pulled out the idea that online communities are neither controlled or restricted, it is entirely in the hands of the individual to say what they wish. Quite a lot of intensive work and research has been carried out into the field of virtual communities, as this New Media offers us something completely different, altenative and interesting.

"Castells argues that the internet is the most appropriate medium of communication in an emerging network society (1998) and that it will play an increasingly important role, not only in the way that people choose to communicate with each other but also in the way we form social relationships"(http://www.whb.co.uk/socialissues/vol2ke.htm)

This quote I found from the internet supports the notion of online identites, suggesting that they are on the rise. I find it quite worrying that it is suggested that virtual communities not only play a role in how we communicate, but the way in which we form social relationships. I don't think virtual communities should obtain such power. I think physical eye-to-eye contact is a much healthier and important way of constucting relationships, we shouldn't rely on technology to do this for us.