Is Virtual Community A Real Community?

In this article she is giving us a look into the damage that social networks can do to students in their job, school, and life. She talks about the millions of members that are already using these sites and that they still growing. The members use these sites to make friends, find old friends, and to talk to friends. “The only

These have begun to break down previous barriers such as distance and language but even cultural barriers may become a thing of the past. In Mim Udovich's "A Secret Society of the Starving," the author describes a community that meets online to share feelings about their eating disorders. In Shari Caudron's "Befriending Barbie," the author writes of her experience at a Barbie convention. Not only are online communities functioning in almost every way as a cohesive group, but they have the potential to transcend distance, language and

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or LinkedIn allow users to reconnect with old friends who live across country or other parts of the world — something, not so easily achieved in the “real” world.

Workman illustrates what he believes is an accurate portrayal of the internet with several analogies. In his first point, or rather “digital norm”, Workman compares the internet to a playground, “As with the playground equipment in the schoolyard, however, what is intended as fun can still produce bruises and bleeding”(Workman, 371). Providing an analogy allows the reader to better understand the author is trying to make. The vast majority of people can easily visualize children playing in a park- but there are several people who have little experience with the internet or social media. In this case, Workman uses this analogy to show that the internet is, for the most part, a place for recreation. Websites such as Tumblr, Facebook, and YouTube are the equivalents to swings, slides, and monkey-bars- they are all intended to entertain the user. However, just as children

In Chapter 11, Sherry Turkle claims that the online words and massive multiplayer online role-playing games, gives virtuosity and fantasy- and something more; your performances put you at the center of a new community with virtual best friends and a sense of belonging. Most people that play the virtual game “A Second Life,” feel like their avatars are used as “practice” for real life. Their lives on screen may be play, but they are serious play.

Lowe, S. (2013). Helping Our Kids Strike a Balance between Life and Social Media. Center

Stephen Marche’s “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” posted by The Atlantic has internet users questioning the meaning of why they use the internet and social media as well as weather or not it has a profound impact on their social lives. In 1995, only one percent of the world had access to the internet according to internetlivestats.com. Today, that number is approximately to 40%. With the expansion of the internet came social platforms such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and numerous similar sites. However, while these social media websites may be great ways to communicate with those who are far away or otherwise unable to speak in person, a detrimental effect comes with the power to do so. It can be time consuming and if one has an

In the article, “Hyperconnected,” Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler discuss the development of identities that are constructed from social networks. They use World of Warcraft to illustrate their main point, which is integrated with logical appeal (Logos) and ethical appeal (Ethos). Certainly, Nicholas and James comprehend that technology has blossom throughout the years, thus leading to the innovation of the printing press, the television, and the Internet, components that we depend on a daily-basis. Here they state that “Within this game, people form friendships, have sustained interactions as groups, communicate using instant messaging, collaborate to achieve shared goals, engage in economic transactions, and fight

Digital technology removed challenges of proximity, and allowed everyone to communicate (Tremetzberger, 2009). Several decades ago, some researchers theorized that face-to-face, place-based communities would become unnecessary because of technology (Bell, 1979). Virtual communities primarily developed around shared interests (Aufderheide, 2011; Boyd, 2011; Park, 2011). Online virtual communities engage in collective action, have social regulations, and participate in shared rituals similar to offline communities (Parks, 2011). Furthermore, while online content seeks to generate civic engagement, there remains debate over if online networks are more or less interactive than the offline communities that came before (Walther et al, 2011). In virtual communities people socially interact as they would in a physical environment but those actions occur in a digital location (Rheingold,

Our generation is not, and we trust family, friends and even strangers in digital networks. Our generation does not trust advertising any more. We are most influenced by each other. We have to make our own decisions. Gigli’s paper did not predict how the Internet would change lives. Young people created Facebook and YouTube and all of a sudden we were the ones creating the media. When we want to know what a word means, we look it up straight away on Urban Dictionary. If the entry is not there, we create it. Katniss in the Hunger Games faced many dangerous situations but the children did work together – they shared information and food. They cared for each other even though they knew that would have to kill or be killed in the end. We look to our peers, not authority, for advice.

Julian Dibbell’s A Rape in Cyberspace is an article which recounts Dibbell’s experience in a MUD community on LambdaMOO. A Multi User Discourse (or MUD) is a command-driven adventure and real-time communication which allow for users to interact with one another and explore adventure environments online which date back to the 1980s. Through MUDs, communities are created amongst players as they begin to create friendships and aid each other in their adventures. Dibbell’s narrative explains to the reader the actions that could be committed within MUD communities and how these actions have changed the way online communities function in the modern day.

The second concept I want to talk about is virtual communities. Virtual communities are social groups whose interactions are mediated through information technologies, particularly the internet. Like modernism, virtual communities are very dependent on technology and the internet. Since science and technology has advanced in the past decade, people don’t need to go to different places to meet different people and can meet others over different social media platforms or even video games. Sometimes, those people met over the internet can become very close friends. For example, I play a lot of video games and I have acquainted myself virtually with many people playing those games. Some of them I even ended up meeting in real life and are still friends with today. Virtual communities have become such a social norm, that soon, people will have friends all over the internet. I think the aspect of virtual communities is good for society, because it allows people to have a greater awareness of other cultures all over the world. With more insight of how other societies and cultures operate, there is a greater chance to expand one's own social

Social network sites (SNSs) such as such as Friendster, CyWorld, and MySpace allow individuals to present themselves, articulate their social networks, and establish or maintain connections with others (Ellison, 2007). These sites could be used for work related situation, romance, connecting with individuals with shared interest, or creating a connection amongst college students. Facebook enables its users to present themselves in an online profile, accumulate ‘‘friends’’ who can post comments on each other’s pages, and view each other’s profiles (Ellison, 2007). Individuals can write on the wall of friends, send private message, comment on posts, as well as chat via instant messaging. Much of the early research on online communities assumed that individuals using these systems would be connecting with others outside their pre-existing social group or location, liberating them to form communities around shared interests, as opposed to shared geography (Ellison, 2007).

Community is changing. As far back as the twentieth century, a social community was a group of real life acquaintances that had a common interest, goal, or career. Back then, to update one’s “status” might mean to attempt to improve a person’s social standing within a particular community or group of friends. Today, people don’t need to be told what online social networking is. It’s so engrained into the current culture that people almost can’t remember how they interacted before the internet came along. How did people keep in touch? How did they interact and socialize and play?

Pews research center conducted a study over social media users (Source 1). They polled 1,787 internet users, and only 47% used social media (Source 1). Of the people polled in 2008 (as social media sort of was popular) 1.93 individuals on average had close friends on social media (Socurce1). When the survey was done aging in 2011 an average of 2.16 people said they had close friend on social networks (Source 1). Statistics show that social media can make friendships and those companionships are easier to find than ever.