Community or group of individuals?

'Beyond The Community Concept: A symbolic interactionist perspective on online social relations' by Jan Fernback New Media & Society, Feb2007, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p49-69, 21p

This article starts with a thought-provoking comparison of what community means, and, in particular, what online community means. The idea of technology being the great despoiler of community is debated very effectively, offering an alternative look at how instead of ruining it, it has enhanced and, in many instances, created and nurtured it where none existed before. At the same time, it questions whether the term 'community' should be applied to an online group at all, arguing that the word itself is too suggestive of a preordained concept.

The article further explores the nature of 'real' versus 'virtual', stating 'The distinction between the real and the virtual has become much less useful as the internet is firmly ingrained in daily cultural existence.' The author goes on to cite several studies that demonstrate how community is achieved in cyberspace, and how it is being utilized by the people who participate in things like chat rooms, blogs, and the like.

The purpose of the article is to give the results of the study that precipitated it, where members of different online communities were asked to give their feedback and answer questions about what they thought of the online experience. The information that was gathered shows the contradictory way people think about the internet, and also the way it reflects their own ideas about community.