With the concept of the Social Forum still on my mind, I am now curious if the concept of the Virtual Community in the Digital Realm could still be entertained at this point. For those who do not know, the Digital Realm was not always characterized by the World Wide Web (WWW). There was once a time when people actually had to participate in the Digital Realm as a member of a larger Virtual Community. A Virtual Community differs from Social Media in that its existence is not defined by the dissemination of information. It is also different from the concept of Social Networking insofar as the Virtual Community is an interpersonal platform where its members actually control and who live and operate there with vested interests in its future.
The obvious implication of the Virtual Community is that the members of a platform are not passive spectators who simply receive and react to the dissemination of information that naturally occurs in the Digital Realm. Instead, they are active participants in the affairs of the platform, similar to how members of an offline community back in the Real World are active participants in its own affairs. The question that I have yet to ascertain whether such Virtual Communities exist in spite of the prevalence of Social Media platforms.
What is important to note is that a Virtual Community cannot be defined as a chatroom, message board, Social Networking group, or personal network. Rather, it is a place where people can engage in activities that lead to the cultivation of new social bonds that can spill over into the Real World. Like the Social Forum, the Virtual Community acts as a waystation between the Digital Realm and the Real World, where people discover newfound senses of purpose and belonging.
Could such a place exist in the WWW, even in its current state? Have they disappeared as a consequence of the usual Social Networking sites? Or are there in fact places where such interactions still occur and that most people on the WWW remain unaware of their existence?
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