Virtual Communities: To join or not to join?
Oftentimes people gather together for a common purpose or for a common idea or interest. These people form communities in the process. They interact and communicate among each other face to face, and if the reasons and ideals which bind the community are strong, it will survive and even grow in the number of membership.
However, with the fast-paced world we have today, many are unable to make it to their Friday night poker clubs, or their Sunday congregations. For this reason, a good amount of people have resorted to turning to virtual communities to keep in touch with fellow enthusiasts and similar people with common beliefs and ideas.
A virtual community is literally a group of people that gathers in an online environment for the purpose of discussing common ideas, among other purposes. The ‘online environment’ usually represents a meeting place or a forum in real life.
Means of communication is a vital aspect to the survival of a virtual community. Oftentimes members of a virtual community would engage in conversations through online conferences via chat rooms or newsgroups. There is a variance in how fast communication happens in a virtual community. This is based significantly on the means of communication. In other words, a conversation is definitely real-time in a web chat conference, while waiting for a reply on a web forum depends on whether a member is online to do so.
This all seems like a good payoff for many to consider joining a virtual community to save time, but there are a few areas of concern.
The first observation is apparent. There are many risks involved in joining and participating in a virtual community. People can always pose as fellow enthusiasts, only to take advantage of the whole group in a big number of ways. Identity thieves can take out information from other members of the community. Stalkers can simply pose as people who wish to join a certain distinguished virtual community for all the wrong reasons.
Another downside is if someone gets more attention online than in the real world. This can develop into an addiction to the “life” of the virtual community he or she is in. People who engage in virtual communities more than in real life, may be missing out so many lessons in actual physical communities.
Engaging in a virtual community is not necessarily the same as speaking to a group face to face the first time. Many people who have joined virtual communities in the hopes of meeting other people have left disappointed, as the communication methods are not as personal as desired. People usually find themselves as part of a mailing list which is not necessarily directed towards them individually.
The main point here is, one should consider all the benefits and potential drawbacks to joining a virtual community. It may save you time, and it may be more convenient for you, but you should always remember that if there is the chance to communicate with someone else in person, it should be taken first.
