| Virtual Communities | |||
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The Internet has allowed people with the same interests to form virtual
communities.
They can communicate with each other and exchange ideas, gossip, debate or ask for information. Newsgroups and forums allow people to post messages for other users to see and respond to. Each newsgroup is dedicated to a particular topic and a user subscribes to the newsgroup. Topics range from serious discussion groups (Eg. political, history, archaeology, scientific, computer programming) where you can obtain useful information, but others are junk and contain nothing but mindless drivel.
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| Inside each newsgroup, threads
of topics are created where subscribers can debate or discuss, ask
questions or reply.
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USENET is a worldwide system of newsgroups. | ||
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| "People
in virtual communities use words on screens to exchange pleasantries and
argue, engage in intellectual discourse, conduct commerce, exchange
knowledge, share emotional support, make plans, brainstorm, gossip,
feud, fall in love, find friends and lose them, play games, flirt,
create a little high art and a lot if idle talk. People in virtual
communities do just about everything people do in real life, but we
leave our bodies behind. You can't kiss anybody and nobody can punch you
in the nose, but a lot can happen within those boundaries. To the
millions who have been drawn into it, the richness and vitality of
computer-linked cultures is attractive, even addictive."
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Private messages between computer users can be sent using email.
Videoconferencing allows meetings between people using video and sound. Webcams, microphones and speakers allow users to communicate. Videoconferencing allows business meetings to take place with people from all over the world. |
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