A snapshot of the virtual reality environment, SecondLife
THE thought of a virtual community may cause some people to think of geeky nerds sitting all alone playing computer games, like Second Life (which is just one form of a virtual community). But this geek is probably interacting with more people than you do on a night out on the town.
The truth is… if you email other people, you are also part of an online or virtual community.
Email is one way that people use social networks to keep in contact with others they know in ‘real life’ and they use online services as a platform to communicate with them.
The thing that makes people confused about virtual communities, is the word “community” which they associate with geographically bound groups of people. Virtual communities, on the other hand, view community as a form of social networks. These are usually formed around areas of interest and give people a sense of social identity.
Collective Connection 