| Even though the virtual community is Internet-based, it is not unlike a
traditional community. Just like real-world communities, virtual community
members gather frequently to talk about their cars, kids, political views,
hobbies, or any other topic that strikes a fancy. Virtual communities are
nothing more than groups of people who share common interests and gather
together online to exchange ideas and learn from each other. The difference is
that virtual communities have much more of a tendency to revolve around a shared
interest rather than geographical location.
Virtual community members simply log onto a particular place online and delve
into discussions with people from around the world. Before the birth of the
World Wide Web, communities existed on BBS (bulletin board system) services,
where many groups remain today. Usenet newsgroups provide another forum for
virtual communities, as do mailing lists and real-time chats through the IRC
(Internet Relay Chat) system. Oftentimes, a Web site with information about a
certain topic will provide one of these methods for site visitors to communicate
regularly, thereby creating a community.
Some believe Howard Rheingold coined the term “virtual community” when he
wrote his book “The Virtual Community” (published in 1993), detailing his
experiences as one of the early participants of The WELL (originally known as
The Whole Earth ’Lectronic Link; http://www.well.com),
one of the first major virtual communities of the Internet. In his book,
Rheingold defines virtual communities as “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.” |
