Community is one of those interesting words that nearly everyone understands, but nobody can easily define. We use it and hear it almost daily and we’ve formed an abstract collection of contexts to which the term “community” might apply. But if we are pressed to define the word to a foreigner say, we find ourselves fumbling with terms like “group”, “neighborhood”, “town”, “area” or, “people”. It is a broad term that has come to define many things. We should recognize the roots of our understanding of the term in order to see how it applies to Virtual Communities.
We all live in a community, a neighborhood, defined by certain borders. In Buffalo you may say you are from the West Side, Lovejoy, or Black Rock. In the suburbs it may be difficult to view the whole town as a community, West Seneca for example seems better described as a town rather than a community. But within suburbs some developers have sought to create communities. Streets are laid out in loops, common areas are provided, there may even be a sign proclaiming the name of the community “Lakeview Manor”. There are also smaller versions of neighborhood communities, retirement communities, and religious communities like those formed by Mennonites.
Ones understanding of a community is surely colored by where they live. For example if you live on a close knit city street with a well used park nearby the term community will call to mind those people in your neighborhood who you saw every day. On the other hand in a remote suburb where people are physically separated from neighbors by distance, the school you attend and the people that you meet there may define your community. Or if you live in the country you may know the names of everyone in your community and the history of their family, thus you may come to expect a very thorough knowledge about those in your community.
There are also many types of communities beyond our neighborhoods. We may belong to a professional community that relates to our field of study. These organizations serve to expand our understanding of our chosen profession, but they also can provide social connections. These organizations tend to rely on mailings to communicate with their members, but often host conferences and provide other opportunities to get more deeply involved in the group. They may meet many times a year and therefore foster the personal connectedness that we expect from a community.
We may also choose to join a country club, perhaps we like golf or maybe we hope to make some business connections and attend expensive banquets. Whatever the reason these are often very close knit communities. People may chose to join for a specific reason, but I suspect that their relationship with the community is the factor that causes them to stay.
Baseball, bowling and other sports leagues are another example. We may join because we love the sport, or because we are simply looking for something to do, but the community is an important aspect. This is even more obvious when we consider little league sports. The parent encourages their child to join, is it for exercise, or just the experience of belonging to a community?
However these types of communities have become less and less common. Since 1970 the number of people in these organizations has been declining. However, recently we have seen virtual communities begin to fill that void. I think it is important to see virtual communities not as a new phenomenon, but as a means to the same end as traditional communities. People have used various means to develop their communities including mail, newspapers and telephone, the internet is simply a new addition.
One tends to separate virtual communities from the rest, in fact I just recently began to see how they are related and why we tend to draw a line between them. The element that stands out about virtual communities is that some people only experience the community through the computer. We miss the fact that many virtual communities offer opportunities to go beyond the computer and have some face to face interaction. Just because most people stay behind the computer screen doesn’t make these communities all that different from the ones we are used to.
Traditional communities are facilitated by remote as well. Professional societies frequently operate through mailing, magazines and other materials are sent to individual members, they are also invited to conferences and other gatherings but need not attend to feel a part of the organization. Similarly what I view as the most basic element of the community, the neighborhood, also uses remote means like free newspapers that are delivered to your door announcing events and community affairs.
However there are some things about virtual communities that are quite unique. The versatility of the internet has enabled different types of communities to form. The key ingredient of an online community is remote interaction, and communication. Some things clearly represent online communities, such as discussion boards. Also, any website where a viewer can add his or her thoughts is an online community, interaction means that you are not simply observing but that you have the option to actively participate. Blogs and News websites like Indymedia fall into this category. Websites allow viewers to participate in various ways, viewer comments and other activity may be more or less central to the operation of the website but all are online communities.
Defining virtual communities gets more difficult when we consider Instant Messaging, and E-mail. I view these as virtual conversations, rather than communities, but the line is fuzzy and pockmarked at best. Though these media function primarily to facilitate discussion in a mail like fashion between 2 people that is not all they are capable of. Instant massager allows one to chat with as many people as you like, either separately or in a chat room. It also allows you to exchange pictures and other files, you can also communicate through video and audio rather than text, and it has space for a personal profile that is available to anyone. More features are added regularly, and it is difficult for me to keep up. What may have started as a simple remote conversation tool has quickly expanded due to the versatility of the electronic medium.
However these are neither permanently available nor public, that is a key difference. When you exit instant messenger your profile is no longer available, and you can choose to remain hidden as much as you want. In these ways instant messaging and e-mail are more like conversation tools than virtual communities. They are more like the telephone and mail than a community.
Virtual communities and traditional communities have different features, but they have a similar meaning for people. They allow one to extend their social network and their connections with people. We are a social species, we like to interact with others, and we like to form bonds with people. Through virtual communities you can get to know people and share your experience, that’s why they are rightfully called communities.