Virtual Communities

The virtual community which I decided to join is called “The Music Community,” complete with thousands of threads of communication. One of my main interests and hobbies is music, and I could not live without it in my life. Ever since I was little, I was interested in playing and performing music. My favorite band is The Beatles, and I tend to enjoy a wide variety of flavors of music. It’s a free country, right? I take pride in my music collection, because it consists of everything from the jazz tunes I played in my high school band to the jammin’ classic rock songs that my boyfriend plays in his rock band. I found that there are forums on “The Music Community” are that range from ‘Member Journals’ to ‘Album Reviews’ to ‘Songwriting’ to ‘Name That Tune.’ The forums are pretty diverse, and if you have any interest in music, I think that it would be effortless to find a forum to suit your style. I fit into “The Music Community” by discussing aspects of music which satisfy my particular interests. For example, I used to play the alto saxophone. My niche in the realm of music deals with playing instruments, so I discussed my experiences with learning how to play my saxophone with a young saxophonist who has just started playing the alto. I also reminisced about high school football game halftime shows with a few likeminded individuals who played instruments in the marching band in high school.

The internet is a place that allows all types of netizens to guide themselves to the exact virtual community which suits them best. Wood and Smith talk about how people relate to each other in these communities in chapter 6, and they say that “For those who chose to involve themselves in the lives of others through mediating technologies rather than in face-to-face encounters, the virtual communities they inhabit represent a widespread movement into a manner of relating that defies the limitations of physical space.” This statement is powerful, and it shows that we have the ability to interact online how we want to, when we want to, and through the means that we want to.

Social interaction is a bit different inside a virtual community as compared to a real-life one. Acceptance is an easier task when it is sought through the medium of an internet community, especially for those who lack in the social department. I think that a person who is better accustomed to netiquette has an advantage of being accepted in a virtual community as opposed to the type of person who rarely communicates using these means. The internet gives users the ability to both present whatever part of themselves as they wish, and also hide their bad qualities which may hinder their degree of social acceptance. There is no way of completely knowing that you’re accepted in a virtual community because sometimes the communication does not become personal. Often in face-to-face communication, we rely on nonverbal signs that tell us we’re liked or accepted. Being online takes these signals away, and we are forced to translate user responses into things such as what type of mood they’re in, the degree to which you are alike or dissimilar, and what their emotional response is telling you about how well you are being accepted by them. To decide whether or not I was being accepted by somebody on “The Music Community,” I just ask myself if there’s any reason I can think of why they would not like me. Even if I received positive feedback from a person, I can’t assume that they accept me because of the fact that online communities employ mediated communication.