Today we discussed the idea of the virtual community.
“..when people carry on public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships…”
(H. Rheingold, 1993, The Virtual Community)
A virtual community is the online network of people who don’t necessarily know each other but all have a common interest.
We also discussed Individual Identity on the Internet, How a person portrays himself or herself on the Internet is how they create their own “identity”.
People have the chance to create themselves, they can go to any extend to lie or twist the truth in order to appear to others in their virtual community that they are someone they really are not.
The above image from the lecture shows a dog pretending to be something he is not, In reality; this happens everyday in virtual communities.
I’m not saying that dog’s are getting on their owners computers and making Facebook profiles.
People are creating Profile’s with fake pictures or enhanced pictures of themselves and inventing a “new” self online by lying about their interests, hobbies, employment etc.
In this sense they are creating an extension of themselves and their real personality through virtual communities.
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