What is a Virtual Community?

A virtual community is a group of people communicating or interacting with each other by means of information technologies, typically the Internet, rather than face to face. Virtual communities are also known as online communities or computer-mediated communities (CMC).

Today, virtual community can be used loosely for a variety of social groups interacting via the Internet. It does not necessarily mean that there is a strong bond among the members, although Rheingold mentions in his book that virtual communities form "when people carry on public duscussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling" [1]. An email distribution list may have hundreds of members and the communication which takes place may be merely informational (questions and answers are posted), but members may remain relative strangers and uninterested in each other and the membership turnover rate could be high. This is in line with the liberal use of the term community.

The term virtual community is attributed to the book of the same title by Howard Rheingold in 1993. The book discussed a range of computer-mediated communication and social groups. The technologies included Usenet, MUDs (Multi-User Dungeon) and their derivatives MUSHes and MOOs, IRC (Internet Relay Chat), chat rooms and electronic mailing lists; the World Wide Web was not yet used by many people. He pointed out the potential benefits for personal psychological well-being, as well as for society at large, of belonging to such a group.

Vitual communities are considered a vital aspect of the Web 2.0 concept, which depends upon social interaction and exchange between users online. This emphasizes the reciprocity element of the unwritten social contract between community members. Web 2.0 is essentially characterized by virtual communities such as Flickr, Facebook, and Del.icio.us.

Different virutal communities have different levels of interaction and participation among their members. This ranges from adding comments or tags to a blog or post to competing against other people in online video games such as MMORPGs. Not unlike traditional social groups or clubs, virtual communities often divide themselves into cliques or even seperate to form new communities.

The ability to interact with likeminded individuals instantaneously from anywhere on the globe has considerable benefits, but virtual communities have bred some fear and criticism. Vitual communities can serve as dangerous hunting grounds for online criminals, such as identity thieves and stalkers. Many parents are concerned about the security and privacy that these communities offer their members, and whether or not they are appropriate and safe for their children. In addition, often people fear being incriminated for entries they have made on blogging sites that are monitored by authorities. See Facebook's use in investigations. Others fear that time spent in virtual communities detracts from social skills in the real world. Many believe that if one spends too much time immersed online the ability to cope with the adversity of the real world significantly drops.

The idea that media could generate a community is quite old. Progressive thinkers such as Charles Cooley, early in the 20th century in the United States, envisioned a nation whose members are united strongly because of the increased use of mass media. Also well-known is the term community without propinquity, coined by sociologist Melvin Webber in 1963.

The explosive diffusion of the Internet into some countries such as the United States was also accompanied by the proliferation of virtual communities. The nature of those communities and communications is rather diverse, and the benefits that Rheingold envisioned are not necessarily realized, or pursued, by many. At the same time, it is rather commonplace to see anecdotes of someone in need of special help or in search of a community benefiting from the use of the Internet.