VIRTUAL COMMUNITY

 Online or virtual community is the gathering of people, in an online "space" where they come, communicate, connect, and get to know each other better over time. Your community will be what you and your members make of it.

Why Do People Join and Build Virtual Communities?

People have been using online spaces since the beginning of the Internet to communicate. That includes prior to the World Wide Web, when electronic bulletin boards and email loops connected folks across time and space.Many found that they began to form bonds of one sort of another. Today, the online forum is viral and every where.

Types of activities people have enjoyed through these online connections.

• Socialize - meeting people, playing around, sharing jokes, stories and just taking interest in each other. Communities like this often focus around bulletin boards and chat rooms.
• Work together (business) - Distributed work groups within companies and between companies use online community to build their team, keep in touch and even work on projects together. .
• Have topical conversations - Online salons and discussion forums such as the Well Cafe Utne and others have formed communities of people who enjoy conversations about topics and shared interests. Forum One noted in 1999 that the top ten topics for forums registered at their site are around the topics of (in order): relationships (16%), "mega sites (diverse topics, aggregations of smaller conferences - 11%), business and finance (8%), health (5%), hobbies (4%), religion (3%), music (3%), international (3%). 

The Effect of Online Communities

Keeping in Touch

For more than a century now, technological advances have brought the world closer, making communication across long distances easier. Telegrams are faster than letters; phone calls, in turn, are faster than telegrams, as well as easier and more pleasant, since they require no go-between and allow users to hear each other's voice. Cell phones take this one step further, allowing people to call and speak with each other regardless of their location. Online communication of all types is the most efficient yet, with email being a near-instantaneous version of the paper letter; webcams, paired with communication programs such as Skype, iChat or Google Video Chat, make it possible to see the person you are speaking with rather than just hear his voice.

Doing Business

The same technological advances that have simplified and improved personal communication have also had the same beneficial effects on business. Communication between colleagues is near-instantaneous whether they are a few rooms or a few countries apart; video conferencing allows companies to have workers scattered around the globe while but still hold efficient meetings and discussions; business networking is made easier by social media and online networks designed specifically for that purpose, such as LinkedIn. Perhaps most importantly, companies can expand beyond their local market and gain a wider customer base simply by maintaining an active online presentation.

Reaching a Broader Audience

As people's ability to communicate improves, the reach of their messages widens. This can be especially important in politics and activism. For instance, photos and video recorded covertly through a cell phone can be quickly and easily shared online through websites such as YouTube, making it harder for oppressive regimes to keep control; social networks such as Facebook and Twitter can be used to organize and coordinate meetings and protests. The Egyptian revolution of 2011-2012 was spurred greatly by social media.
  By Mbogo Tausi
   BAPRM 42611