Internet: Knowledge and Community

Douglas Schuler's essay describes how communities in the real world have undergone many changes in the past century. The Internet is clearly a community and contains many communities within it as well. The Internet as we know it is still relatively new and communities forming within the Internet are more recent still. What have been some of the most significant developments in this short history of Internet communities and how do they compare with real communities? Are Internet communities heading in any direction? What aspects and events of real communities carry over? Are Internet communities in any danger as real communities are?

====-[[Robert Price]]====

===Response===

I think that without question, the advent of computer social networks has been the Internet's most radical advancement in recent years. We'll just take Facebook, for example.  Never before has communicating with practically anyone, anywhere, anytime been so possible and relatively simple.  It's weird though; compared with real life, it seems like I have at least a few friends on Facebook I don't really actually know in real life!  Weirder still, some of those folks, I've never even talked to and can't recall where I even made their acquaintance!  In real life, my friends are people I actually know!  

Now, don't get me wrong, it's possible to have a pen pal you've never physically met and still get to know a person that way, but somehow, strangely one can have a ton of friends on Facebook and maybe a small portion of them you realistically keep in touch with on a regular basis.  For me, it's people I see face to face a lot of the time anyway, but I guess, at the same time, it does help keep me connected with friends far away.  

Either way, I'd say, for a person like myself, it's made me a lot more sociable than I used to be.  Also, being a musician, it has enabled me to network for shows and get to know other artists.  I feel internet communities have had a spillover effect into my real life and that's a good thing.  How long will Facebook stay the way it is?  Will the luxury of social networking eventually wind up not being totally free anymore and altering our attitudes toward the ease with which we currently enjoy such free communication?  Will something better than Facebook come along?

~[[Scott Taylor]]

=='''See Also:'''==

*[[Does the internet add value to existing and/or emerging communities with regard to the quality of relationships between members?]]