VIRTUAL COMMUNITY

The fact that people live close to another does not mean they are closely related. It is the nature of the relationships between people and the social networks of which they are a part that is often seen as one of the more significant aspects of community.


It is very difficult to give a short and precised definition of a virtual community. Howard Reingold has been the first person who introduced this term. Rheingold (1993, p.5) defines virtual communities as "social aggregations that emerge from the [Internet] when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace" . In other words, virtual communities are groups of people who communicate with each other via electronic media. According to Reingold definition, a virtual community is created on the Net, it is composed of many people, not only one, have to be prolonged in the time, and is represented by relationships and interactions between people. Virtual communities are a relatively new phenomenon. It is the sense of belonging and shared interests that maintain their members together.

In an article, Porter (2004) gave a definition of a virtual community by Lee et al. (2003), which is that a virtual community is “an aggregation of individuals or business partners who interact around a shared interest, where the interaction is at least partially supported and/or mediated by technology and guided by some protocols or norms”.
According to Koivisto (2003) people in virtual communities have a shared purpose, an interest or need, information exchange, or service that provides a reason for community. A community has policies, rituals, protocols and laws that guide people's interactions. Computer systems support and mediate the online communities.

Porter (2004), suggested that five attributes could be used to characterize virtual communities: (1) Purpose, (2) Place, (3) Platform, (4) Population Interaction Structure, and (5) Profit Mode.


REFERENCE LIST

Koivisto, E. M. I. (2003). Supporting Communities in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games by Game Design. Finland: Digital Games Research Association (DIGRA) and Utrecht University
.

Porter, C., E. (2004) A Typology of Virtual Communities: A Multi-Disciplinary Foundation for
Future Research. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(3).

Rheingold, H. (1993). The Virtual Community. Cambridges:MIT Press. Retrieved May 11, 2009, from http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/intro.html

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