What is a virtual community?
"A virtual community is a unity of people sharing common interests, ideas and feelings over the internet or other collaborative networks." (Rouse, M. Wren, S. 2006)
"A virtual community is a population of individuals with shared or complementary interests who interact across a host platform."
"The key defining feature of a virtual community is the presence of collective feedback which both contribution and use are open." (Hind, D. 2009)
Howard Rheingold was deemed the founder of the term 'virtual community' after logging in to an online forum called the WELL. He was seeking urgent advice on how to remove a tick that had latched itself onto his daughters scalp. He decided to write a book reflecting upon his experience and titled it 'The Virtual Community', published 1993.
"When you think of a title for a book, you are forced to think of something short and evocative, like, well, 'The Virtual Community,' even though a more accurate title might be: 'People who use computers to communicate, form friendships that sometimes form the basis of communities, but you have to be careful to not mistake the tool for the task and think that just writing words on a screen is the same thing as a real community." - Rheingold, H.
http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/1.html
Hind agrees with Rheingold's thoughts in that a community is not a one way relationship. It is essential to not only consume information but to produce and share it, to interact and discuss. this links in with Reader 1 on web communication technologies and the key concept of 'participation'; as well as the key term 'prosumer' (Valtysson 2015, p205). I believe that a virtual community is a result of social networking via the medium of web 2.0.
In the introduction to his book, Rheingold discusses the emotional attachment formed to his virtual community which confirms psychologists Crisp & Turner's later explanation of how humans enjoy and benefit from human interaction and the concept of 'affiliation' (Reader 3). How they 'form close relationships' to form 'a network of support that will help us when we are in need.'
(Crisp & Turner, 2007)
"The idea of a community accessible only via my computer screen sounded cold to me at first, but i learned quickly that people can feel passionately about email and computer conferences. I've become one of them. I care about these people i met through my computer, and i care deeply about the future of the medium that enables us to assemble."
"Finding the WELL was like discovering a cozy little world that had been flourishing without me, hidden within the walls of my house; an entire cast of characters welcomed me to the troupe with great merriment as soon as i found the secret door."
Rouse's post explaining the definition of 'virtual community' also talks about the idea of these communities being 'subgroups' within Marshall McLuhan's notion of cyberspace as a 'global village'.
Definition of 'Global Village': Noun. (www.google.com) 'The World considered as a single community linked by telecommunications.'
Marshall McLuhan was a media and communication theorist that "coined the term 'global village' in early 1960's to describe the phenomenon of the world's culture shrinking and expanding at the same time." (Dixon, V. 2009)
I believe 'shrinking' explains the notion of how the world is becoming a smaller place due to the 'expanding' of our networks via the medium of web 2.0 and online communication & communities. The internet has enabled time travel and teleportation effectively by providing us with one central nervous system.
"Today after more than a century of electric technology, we have extended our central nervous system itself in a global embrace, abolishing both space and time as far as our planet is concerned." (McLuhan, M. 'Understanding Media' 1964)
Interestingly we can link the term 'global village' with performance and the arts. McLuhan began to use the term 'global theatre' implying that the internet was a space for people to 'do ones thing'. He used the term to emphasise the changeover from consumer to producer, from acquisition to involvement.
Rheingold relates his experiences of using WELL to varying roles within the arts and theatre, therefore linking his idea of a virtual community to Marshall's of global theatre and using web 2.0 as a performance space.
"Like others who fell into the WELL, i soon discovered that i was audience, performer and scriptwriter along with my companions, in an ongoing improvisation."
All BAPP Module 1 students and BAPP members alike, check it out & please share! A Google + virtual community for us to share ideas, converse with one another, give feedback and ask for help.....
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