As the semester continued and I completed more investigations, I realized that there are great advantages to online communities. I do not engage in chat room discussions over the Internet, but as I did for the purposes of my investigations, I became enlightened on how this is an excellent medium for connecting to other people. Before taking NCLC 350, I was not aware of the number of advantages of virtual communities. In fact, I think was a bit cynical and considered the disadvantages more than the advantages. However, my attitude has now changed and I can admit that there are definitely great advantages to online communities.

An obvious advantage, and one that should not be taken for granted, is that online communities are easily accessible. In addition to being inexpensive, the Internet allows for people to go online and connect, within minutes, with other individuals who share common interests or offer what a person needs. If a person wishes to speak to someone who is of a specific ethnic group, age, occupation, gender, or has certain hobbies, all he/she has to do is search for web sites that meet the person's interest. Then, once in the site, the person is able to form virtual relationships with such individuals. This is a very efficient and accessible way of forming such relationships. Sometimes, a person doesn't want to necessarily form a relationship, but instead needs to find quick information that they can find on these sites offering communities. Perfect example - our virtual investigations. During the investigations, I did not want to form relationships with the people I chatted with, but rather need to find out their perspectives and feelings of chatting online and of virtual communities. I observed their interaction with other individuals, which also helped me with my assignments. I quickly and efficiently accessed sites with communities and proceeded to examine them. Hypothetically, if I had to do a research paper on a country for a class, I could even visit communities online of people from that country. I could learn of their views on politics, social issues, etc. and include their perspectives in my paper. If I were studying the country's culture and wanted further insight, visiting online communities of people from that culture would be an excellent resource. My social virtual investigation, for which I used the website, Angels in the Night, is an excellent example of how the Internet is useful in that it is easily accessible. Angels in the Night is a site that offers free and confidential support to young victims of sexual abuse (age 19 and younger). One can try to imagine how frightened and hopeless children who are victims of abuse must feel. They can become silenced by their fear and loss of trust for other people. For these young people, Angels in the Night offers them the chance to easily accessible support from other children who have suffered abuse as well as a group of mentors. In my virtual community investigation #3, I write the following:

"Here, children have the opportunity to share and discuss their problems with other children in the chat room and thus find support. For many of these kids, they do not have any form of support in their lives and so they come to the web site during moments of sadness and fear to share their pain and sorrow. In the chat room, they have the opportunity to share their problems with other children and with mentors. Often times, this is the only place of comfort in their lives."

Children are able to easily access the support that they need, which is a great advantage of online communities - the fact that people can find the support that they lack in their lives. What is incredible about this particular web site is that it not only offers emotional support to the victims, but also offers services such as "food, shelter, clothing, therapy, medical assistance, legal advice, online assistance and chat, and even allow the users to write letters to the mentors, who will write them back," as I say in my VC #3. These forms of support are not easily accessible in most of the daily lives of these young kids. And confidentiality is a concern of many young people who consider seeking these forms of help. However, this site, as well as other sites, offers confidential and accessible support to the users.

Another advantage of online communities is the mere variety of areas a person can choose to become involved with. An individual can join an online community relating to sports, food, health, education, travel, occupations, entertainment and various pastimes. Whether a person is very involved with or dedicated to a specific area or topic, he/she can choose to gain more insight on other areas they may be curious about. This is an inexpensive way a person can learn a great deal of information and become a member of various communities easily. Just with our own assignment in NCLC 350, we examined communities relating to entertainment/art, education, social issues, and careers. There are countless communities a person can probe into, whether they are members of such communities or not. It is a wonderful advantage for someone to even explore communities of which they are not members. For example, a prejudice person may be advised to explore communities of people who have been victims of prejudice, or to visit communities that have members of the groups the individual is prejudice against. Another example would be for a relative or friend of a person who has just revealed that they are homosexual to explore this community on the Internet so that they can begin to become more aware of the community. Or they could visit sites that offer support for people who have just learned of a friend's or loved one's sexuality. There are so many communities to become a part of or to gain insight on the Internet.

Each of the virtual communities I explored for my virtual investigations are examples of how such communities offer great advantages to people. For the arts/entertainment investigation, I investigated the official Sade website. Such fan sites are advantageous to fans of singers, actors, artists, etc. because they offer a great deal of information as well as allow fans to engage in conversations with each other. These fan communities enjoy the chance to discuss such celebrities with each other, discussing what they like about them, their music, movies, latest gossip, news, etc. Fans learn information from each other and have an outlet to express their love for their favorite celebrities with each other. They have the opportunity to chat with each other, as well as read and reply to each other's comments in forums and on message boards. The following are fans' comments on the Sade site's message board that I included in my virtual investigation #1:


Hello Sade, On your birthday I wish you the best for you, your daughter and all your friends all over the world. I hope that you will continue to make us happy with your wonderful music. Thanks for all the great music you and your band has given to the world. I'm a fan of you from the beginning in 1984 and I will always love your music and your personality.

I'm a bad fan, I didn't realize it was your birthday. My bad!! Happy Birthday. The world is a much better place with you in it. I don't think you realize how much you help people deal with life's daily battles and triumphs through your music. I hope you get as much out of it as we the fans do!

I only have three of Sade's CDs (Love Deluxe, Best Of..., and Lovers Rock), but I love Please Send Me Someone To Love. That song captures all that is Sade. Pearls is really tied with Please... because it is just so raw and anguished! That beautiful hallelujah is heart wrenching! What are y'all's (excuse the double contraction!) favorites and why? Peace and Bless, Daniel

In my virtual investigation #1, I also commented that fans are able to engage in a live chat room discussion.

"Once they register, they can have Sade-related discussions with other fans in the chat room. This creates a community of fans who can speak to each other about Sade music, news, etc. and can interact with others around the world. This is a great tool, especially for fans of Sade. This is because the band's new album is their latest one after eight years of not releasing music. So, needless to say, fans have long awaited this album and they can now communicate with each other about it. It's amazing to think that a person in another part of the world could communicate with me, via the Internet chat room, about a common area of interest. Chat rooms are a great way for people to come together and discuss what's on their mind."

Websites that relate to famous people sometimes include a sense of community. Fans come together to speak of the person, their work, news, interesting facts, gossip, and offer their opinions. The advantage of these communities is that people can share their love or fascination for a popular figure with others who feel the same way. Before, I think that the only way such "community" could be formed (at least in my case) would have been to have friends who have similar tastes for music, actors, art, etc. Now, individuals can explore the Internet for fans sites and communities that hold the same love for celebrities as the individuals themselves.

For my second investigation, college students, I learned that such communities relating to students are advantageous because they offer students the chance to come together and discuss issues that concern them. As I learned from my investigation #2, even if students don't engage in serious academic discussions, they have an outlet to talk about anything that concerns them with others their age. This is a great way for young people to socialize with each other. It is especially beneficial to those people who are self-conscious, have low self-esteem, or are shy about making friends. Some students may feel more confident socializing on the Internet. After some time, this confidence may permeate into other areas of their lives, and they may learn to become more confident about themselves, thus helping them in their daily lives. Some of the comments I made about the chat rooms in my virtual community investigation #2 are below:

"People were more interested in finding out details about each other rather than answering dull questions… They enjoy asking each other details about their lives (i.e. what a person does for a living, if they are in a relationship, what they look like, etc.), and the more interesting the details are, the better. I don't think people really enjoyed me asking how they enjoyed chatting, and why they chose to chat in these kinds of chat rooms aimed at college students."

Basically, students can engage in different chats and discuss various points of interest. There are countless topics of discussion a person can be involved in when visiting a college chat.

For my last investigation, careers, I explored Women in Multimedia, which is the official website of a non-profit organization, based in San Francisco, CA, which encourages and promotes the involvement of women in the technology industry. The advantage of online communities is that individuals can come together in support of a certain cause. They become enabled to promote a group, or cause, to a wide audience. For example, communities may work together, through message boards, chat, offering information, and various forms of multimedia, in order to promote awareness and to gain support. In terms of promoting awareness, communities off-line can create (official) websites relating to their cause. In this way, the cause becomes promoted to a large audience, as well as gains more supporters worldwide. Using my investigation #3 as an example, Women in Multimedia has meetings that are held monthly in San Francisco. "The purpose of these meetings is to have guest speakers and panel discussions that can inform members and non-members of the technology business and of advancements in technology, but to also network amongst women and individuals in the high tech industry." The members of the community that attend these meetings are able to also go on-line and to utilize the site as a way to better empower their community. On the site, influential women in technology are recognized, as well. In addition, news and information is distributed in order to promote awareness of women's roles in the technology industry. The women that visit the site become empowered by becoming aware of the accomplishments of and opportunities for women in the hi-tech world. The organization works to promote women's roles in the business, so to have an online community promoting this, as well, is a powerful tool. In addition, men and others who are not a part of the specific community of "women and technology" become enlightened about issues concerning this group by visiting the site and becoming aware of the organization. Going online is a great advantage for people who are involved in non-profit organizations or various causes. This can be either to create their own sites or to visit and become members of other sites with the same kinds of communities.

As previously mentioned, another great benefit of becoming involved in virtual communities is that people who have low self-esteem or little confidence are enabled to socialize with others with little fear. They can engage in discussions with people of either gender, a certain age range, with similar interests, or any other community they feel they would like to join. It allows them to be honest of their identity (sexuality, race, etc) and to discuss areas of interest with others who share the same interests. An individual could make good friends online, which could be great for those who lack friends in their daily lives. As a person becomes more confident, he/she could become more secure with who they are, which will have benefits in their daily interactions with other people.

Another advantage of online communities is that a person can socialize with someone, perhaps of a specific group, despite his/her location. Location is not an issue with online communities. Being an inexpensive way to "reach out and touch someone," there's no end to the number of acquaintances a person can make over the Internet. Being in Centreville, Virginia, I can communicate with another person who loves Sade or is of an Iranian/Afghan background in California or in France. For some people, it could prove to be very useful to be involved in virtual communities because of their location. For example, a gay teenager in a small town in Kansas may be shunned if he/she were to reveal his/her sexuality. In such a case, it may be helpful if the teenager became involved in an online community or virtual support group for gay teens. There, the teenager may be able to meet and relate to other teens that have had to reveal their sexuality. After becoming more comfortable with his/her identity, he/she may find the courage to reveal his/her sexuality. In such a case, location is an important factor and virtual communities become very useful.

There are numerous benefits and advantages of getting involved in virtual communities. Some that I have addressed are sharing common interests with others in remote areas, finding support online, promoting causes, and making friends despite low self-esteem or little confidence.

Introduction Disadvantages Communication Analysis Participation Conclusion Competencies References

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