Week 2 Entry

After reading what Rheingold has written about virtual communities, I now have a much better understanding of what is meant by the term. Up until now, all I have really known was chat rooms, and communicating to people via AOL Instant Messenger. Before reading Rheingold, if I would've answered the question of what an online community is, my response would've been my buddy list on instant messenger. But, an online community is much more than that. An online community is a place where people with similar interests can meet and discuss these various topics as often as they like. The real beauty of these online communities is that it is very easy to meet people with similar interests, and create a community. A real world example would be a small town that surprisingly is full of only soccer enthusiasts, and only soccer enthusiasts. IF you're a big fan of bass fishing and hate soccer, you would not be found in this town. This is a far fetched example, and one that could never happen. That seems to me to be the beauty of these online communities. It makes things like this possible. You can be a part of a community full of many people with a similar interest.

As far as my personal experiences to date with online communities, I have none. I have never joined or been a part of an online community. Why? I don't really know. I really have just never had a real urge to participate in one, and another reason might be that I don't really know how they really work or what topics are out there. It is something that I have never really explored. I am seeing that there are some very interesting communities out there, and it may change. I don't know. I think I need to find out for myself whether or not online communities are for me. Either way, after reading Rheingold, I can definitely see the benefits of being a member of an online community.

I think I would be comfortable being a member of an online community, but it would have to be something that really interests me, or I would lose interest very quickly. I normally do prefer one on one conversations in person, but I have noticed that many people have a lot more to say when they are facing a computer screen, and not face to face with someone else. I think that is one of the bests aspects of online communities. The fact that a shy person who normally doesn't have much to say can have the loudest voice in an online community. I'm going to try a few online communities as the semester progresses, and I will find out if it is someting for me or not. Either way, it is a fascinating form of communication.