Virtual community

A virtual community is a social work of individuals who connect through specific social media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals. Some of the most pervasive virtual communities are online communities operating under social networking services.

Howard Rheingold discussed virtual communities in his book, The Virtual Community, published in 1993. The book's discussion ranges from Rheingold's adventures on The WELL, computer-mediated communication, social groups and information science. Technologies cited include Usenet, MUDs (Multi-User Dungeon) and their derivatives MUSHes and MOOs, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), chat rooms and electronic mailing lists. Rheingold also points out the potential benefits for personal psychological well-being, as well as for society at large, of belonging to a virtual community. At the same time, it showed that job engagement positively influences virtual communities of practice engagement.[1]

Virtual communities all encourage interaction, sometimes focusing around a particular interest or just to communicate. Some virtual communities do both. Community members are allowed to interact over a shared passion through various means: message boards, chat rooms, social networking World Wide Web sites, or virtual worlds.[2] Members usually become attached to the community world, logging in and out on sites all day every day, which can certainly become an addiction.[3]

  1. ^ Haas, Aurore; Abonneau, David; Borzillo, Stefano; Guillaume, Louis-Pierre (3 April 2021). "Afraid of engagement? Towards an understanding of engagement in virtual communities of practice". Knowledge Management Research & Practice. 19 (2): 169–180. doi:10.1080/14778238.2020.1745704. ISSN 1477-8238. S2CID 216178181. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  2. ^ Hof, R. D.; Browder, S.; Elstrom, P. (5 May 1997). "Internet Communities". Business Week.
  3. ^ Ridings, Catherine M.; Gefen, David (23 June 2006). "Virtual Community Attraction: Why People Hang Out Online". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 10 (1): 00. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2004.tb00229.x. ISSN 1083-6101. S2CID 21854835. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2022.