Chapter Six: Communicating in Virtual Communities
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Chapter six examines the phenomenon of online social networks known as virtual communities. The chapter identifies historical precedents for such communal feelings emerging from the intervention of earlier media, such as Colonial newspapers and fan-created "zines." It also identifies common qualities found in virtual communities, as well as what attracts people to online communities, and discusses the rules and ramifications of netizenship. Several examples of virtual communities are reviewed, and the metaphor itself is critiqued.
Engage your students in an online discussion of how rules emerge and govern a virtual community. (Referencing the "Hyperlink: Society Comes to LambdaMOO" on p. 126 could be a place to start the discussion.) If your students have been contributing to a class listserv up to this point, ask them to identify what rules have governed their interaction thus far. Does everyone agree with the set of rules enumerated? Have there been instances this semester where people broke the rules? How were these people sanctioned, if at all?
Alternately, consider beginning a course listserv and make one of the initial discussion topics the establishment of rules to govern this virtual community. Encourage the students to identify how they will sanction those who break the rules and then monitor the listserv in the coming weeks to see if students break any of the rules and if they are punished for it.
A complementary activity is to observe the proceedings of a Usenet newsgroup and monitor it for norms. Whether you wish for the class to observe just one newsgroup together or if you wish to have students follow their own interests, Google-Groups is one site with plenty of newsgroup topics to choose among. Again, ask students to be on the lookout for norms and rules that seem to govern the community and to note any violations and the sanctions taken against offenders.
Download a PowerPoint slideshow for this chapter
To request sample test questions, contact Matthew Smith at <msmith@wittenberg.edu>. [Instructors only. Proof of institutional affiliation will be required.]
Ross, G. (1998). Pleasantville [Film]. [Los Angeles, CA]: New Line Cinema.
The plot of this film features two 1990s siblings transported to the 1950s world of a television series called Pleasantville and consequently resonates with a larger cultural longing for a return to community. The male lead in the film (played by Tobey McGuire) longs for the simpler world he sees portrayed on his favorite television rerun. The film can reinforce some of the key points made in chapter six, especially where it discusses one possible motivation for building online communities lying in a similar search for the nostalgic communities of yesteryear.
