Applied English Information Science Fall 99
Class Homepage	Schedule
What Is An Online Community?

         

1. Introduction

2. Preparing to Read

3. Reading

4. Discussion

5. Other reading

To start, click on the audio link below. The text of the audio introduction is included below. When you are finished, move to #2.

Audio Introduction (click on the icon)

Text of the audio introduction:

In this session, we are going to look more closely at how the Net is providing the basis for people to interact together and form real communities. The word "community" can be defined in a variety of ways, according to Britannica Online:

• a unified body of individuals
• the people with common interests living in a particular area
• an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location
• a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society

You will note that the word has two main ideas associated with it. First, it means people who share something in common and second, it means that these people share a common location. All of you grew up in some community - a town, a city, a neighborhood, etc. - that was situated in a geographical location - Chiba prefecture, for example.

However, when we consider the idea of online communities, we have to expand our understanding of the role of "location." It is very likely that people who are part of an online community are geographically situated all over the world (such as Kawagoe Japan and Salem Oregon). In fact, Marc Smith of the Center for the Study of Online Community says that "Virtual communities require an act of imagination to use... and what must be imagined is the idea of community itself." In other words, it may take time for people to accept the idea that a community can be built across a network, rather than only in a fixed geographical area. Many years ago, people in America, called pioneers, traveled across the country along the Oregon trail to come to the Willamette valley and establish communities such as Salem and Portland. Today's pioneers could be called cyber-pioneers and the trail they travel is a network we call the internet.

Howard Rheingold writes extensively about online communities in his best-selling book, The Virtual Community (the entire book is available on the Web). He describes an online community of which he is an active part, called the WELL. He says:

Virtual communities are places where people meet, and they are also tools; the place-like aspects and the tool-like aspects only partially overlap. Some people come to the WELL only for the community, some come only for the hard-core information, and some want both.
[ Howard Rheingold. The Virtual Community. Chapter 2]

In other words, Rheingold believes that online communities can provide both relationships and a wealth of information. His book gives many examples of how the WELL has functioned in both ways.

However, others, such as Scott London have noted that virtual communities do not require commitment from members and can leave them more disconnected from each other. He questions whether or not you can have community without some kind of face to face interaction.(1). London points out that the WELL, described by Rheingold, is actually not exclusively an online community. Most of the participants live in the San Francisco Bay area and Rheingold notes that the online community really began to develop as the participants met face-to-face. London suggests that online communities perhaps serve best not as replacements for more traditional, face-to-face communities, but as a supplement to them. (2)

You will be reading some articles from the online book, 24 Hours in Cyberspace by Rick Smolan (Editor) and Jennifer Erwitt (Creator). These articles will demonstrate some ways in which people have used the internet to form communities.

Following this, there will be some discussion questions for you to answer. Each step in the session is numbered. At the top of the page is a link to all the steps to help you navigate more easily. At any time, if you have questions please contact Prof. Gregory by email.

Let's begin.

Go on to #2.....

Vocabulary

Circle of Support	isolated (adj.) occurring alone or once to isolate (verb) to make someone or something alone	keening (gerund) complaining loudly with sadness Note: a gerund is the -ing form of a verb. It is used as a noun.	grief (noun) deep distress or sadness
	to console (verb) to comfort someone who is sad or grieving consolation (noun) - the act of consoling someone	cocoon (noun) a protective covering. Literally, it means the protective covering which insects use (e.g. a butterfly)	North Carolina (noun - place) One of the fifty states of the U.S. It is located in the southeastern part of the country. It is bounded on the north by Virginia, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by South Carolina and Georgia, and on the west by Tennessee.
	to come full circle (idiom) an idiom that means to go through a series of steps that lead back to the original source or position.	to put a face on something (idiom) to make something personal or clear so others can understand it.	.
.
Links to A Rich Heritage	prestigious (adj.) honored or greatly respected	unique (adj.) special; unusual; not ordinary	to tempt (verb) to persuade or convince someone to do wrong by promise of pleasure or gain temptation (noun) the act of tempting tempted (adj.) to experience temptation
	notable (adj.) remarkable; worthy of note	obscure (adj.) not clearly seen, easily understood or clearly expressed;	memoirs (noun- plural) a narrative composed from personal experience
	to affirm (verb) to state something positively; to uphold something	to inspire (verb) to strongly influence someone to do something	Diaspora (noun) the breaking up and scattering of a people
.
Worlds Apart	arid (adj.) very dry	suspicious (adj.) to question or distrust someone or something	tentatively (adverb) not fully worked out or developed
	animosity (noun) anger, hatred, dislike toward someone or something	Jewish kibbutz (noun) an Israeli community, usually agricultural and often also industrial, in which all wealth is held in common.	.
	hot spot (noun - slang) a place of great interest, activity, or action	to collaborate (verb) to work together	equal footing (noun) the same position, condition or status
	milieu (noun) the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops Note: this word comes from French	tangible/intangible (adj.) tangible - real; capable of being understood or touched. intangible - not real; not capable of being understood or touched	corps (noun) a group of persons having a common activity or occupation
.
Down and Online	to evict (verb) to force someone out of someplace	to tolerate (verb) to endure; to accept something different	boycott (noun) to express disapproval by refusing to buy from a business
	decency (noun) the quality of being decent. decent (adj.) fairly good, but not excellent	.	.
.
A Home in Cyberspace	skeptic (noun) someone who does not believe or is distrustful	to diagnose (verb) a medical term - it means to analyze the cause or nature of a disease	epilepsy (noun) a disorder marked by disturbed electrical rhythms of the central nervous system and typically manifested by convulsions
	psychiatry (noun) a branch of medicine that deals with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders	Narcotics Anonymous (noun) a voluntary group of people addicted to drugs who meet together and provide support and help each other to get off drugs.	therapy (noun) treatment given for bodily, mental, or behavioral disorders
	to parlay (verb) to increase or otherwise transform into something of much greater value	freelance (adj.) acting independently without being affiliated with or authorized by an organization	what makes him tick (idiom) how a person behaves or the person's personality, etc.

Study the vocabulary words and then practice them, using this online crossword puzzle:

Now, go on to #3......

Articles:

1. Circle of Support When Debbi Hood Johnson's husband died of AIDS, she became lost in grief. Debbi turned to Computer AIDS Ministry, a New York BBS, to find her way back.

Question 1: Explain how the Internet helped Debbi Hood Johnson deal with her grief?

2. Links to a Rich Heritage Eno Jackson, an African-American graduate student at MIT's Sloan School of Management, felt isolated and wanted to create a sense of community for herself and others. The result: a website for women of the African Diaspora.

Question 2: Eno Jackson says that her web page is a "labor of love." Do you agree? Why or why not?

3. Worlds Apart Arab and Israeli teens have had little contact with each other, even when they live in neighboring villages. Until now. They're coming together to explore their shared interest in the Internet.

Question 3: According to Deb Dvir, cofounder of The Living Weave, why has this project been successful?

4. Down and Online Tokyo police evicted 200 homeless people from their refuge near City Hall. Activists took up their cause -- and told the world over the Internet.

Question 4: Do you think the use of the Internet in this situation was successful? Why or why not?

5. A Home in Cyberspace Kevin Childs shot heroin, slept in the streets, and attempted suicide. A wasted life? No, a redeemed one, thanks to the Internet.

Question 5: In what ways has the Internet helped Kevin Childs turn his life around?

Please send your answers to the comprehension questions to Prof. Gregory at wgregory@willamette.edu. Make sure to sign your name and include your email address.

Other Suggested Reading (Optional) 24 Hours in Cyberspace. by Rick Smolan (Editor), Jennifer Erwitt (Creator) This is an outstanding web site with dozens of interesting articles which are short and not too difficult to understand. The articles include beautiful photographs and provide a comprehensive and broad picture of how the internet (the web) is currently being used. Civic Networks: Building Community on the Net. by Scott London This article explores some of the issues related to the limitations of online communities and suggests how they might best be developed. The Virtual Community. by Howard Rheingold. This is best-selling book is perhaps the best on virtual communities. Using examples from his own online community called the WELL, Rheingold gives a strong argument in favor online or virtual communities.

For the subject, put "Online Community"

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of an online community.

2. If you could create an online community, what would it be like?

Remember that a discussion requires interaction. Once everyone has made comments, I expect everyone to respond to the comments and conduct a real discussion using email - just as if we were in a classroom or sitting together over coffee in the Bistro.

Buffalo Free-Net: Buffalo, New York
CapAccess: National Capital Area
Charlotte's Web: Charlotte, North Carolina
Eugene, Oregon: Eugene Free-Net
New Orleans, Louisiana: Greater New Orleans Free-Net
Seattle, Washington: Seattle Community Network
San Francisco Bay Area: The WELL

¹ London, Scott. March 1997. "The Virtual Community" - Civic Networks: Building Community on the Net london@west.net. Accessed October 5, 1998. (back to article)

² London, Scott. March 1997. "The Networked Community" - Civic Networks: Building Community on the Net london@west.net. Accessed October 5, 1998. (back to article)

Last modified October 5, 1998