Virtual Communities: Jumping Platforms
- Benjamin Lam
- Nov 10, 2021
- 9 min read
Reading through Anatoliy Gruzd's journal on online communities, he created a way to classify different virtual communities. Gruzd classifies virtual communities by the social interactions that takes place between users and how these interactions are what allow the community to function the way that it does. There are seven distinct types of virtual communities that Gruzd identities. Each of the are able to form a community but are structured in a way that alters the interactions which makes them different from one another. The seven different virtual communities are:
"online discussion forums, blogs, social networking web sites, microblogging web sites, content sharing web sites, wikis, and virtual worlds" (Gruzd).
Discussion Board:
Discussion Board virtual communities (which I believe are the oldest form of social media platforms), are online forums. These virtual communities work by having a user create a post within a forum of a dedicated topic that can be accessed by other users within the group at anytime. The contents of the post can be a text post which can be questions, short messages, opinions, or essays in regards to the given topic of the forum. Posts can also contain images, videos, and links to other sites. Within the forum itself, it works by members sharing content and having other members interacting with it by commenting and sharing their own opinions.
More often than not in Discussion Board type virtual community, the majority of the members are there for content posted by others and only interact in the comments of posts. Only a handful of members post content or text posts because it is something that they want to share. But other than that, there really isn't any kind of hierarchy where only certain individuals are allowed to make posts and other users are only able to comment. Within the group there are moderators who oversee the group and enforce rules to ensure that members feel safe so that they will stay and continue to contribute content to the forum.
The discussion board communities that I often frequent are on Reddit.com. Reddit is an online forum that pretty much allows any type of content as long as the contents of posts are not illegal in anyway. Reddit is the host site for specified online forums that they can subreddits. The image here is a screenshot of what my own personal Reddit feed looks like. Each posts belongs to a different subreddit and there is a wide variety of content here. As you can see the topics can range from humor entertainment to a recording of a dentist office getting mugged, to Denmark dumping pollution back into the ocean. Reddit uses a voting system to put the higher voted posts on the frontpage of their site. You can also see how some posts have a red label 'NSFW' which means 'Not Safe For Work', which is content that could be graphically violent, contain gore, vulgar language, and even sexual content. In those subreddits that allow NFSW content to be posted, it is the moderators job to ensure that members are properly labeling content in case there are members who have no interest in seeing content like that. As you can see, someone posts something that they want to share in a online discussion board group and there are other members interacting in the comments of the post.
Blog and Blog Readers
Virtual communities based on blogs and blog readers function almost the same as online discussion boards but are focused on a specific topic that is run by either an individual or a team. The way that blogs communities work is that an individual or a team will create an piece of content that is from their perspective or has their opinion on a topic. A community forms because the readers find the blog and id they share the same belief or values as the author, they will stick around and read more of their work. When a reader finds a piece that they agree with they can share it amongst people they know who would also agree with it. More often than not on blog sites, there is a comment section that allows for the audience to interact with the author or other reads, and share their opinion on the topic that the blog has covered. This type of virtual community is built on having a dedicated audience that looks up to the opinions and perspective of the author or authors of the blog. The community will remain as long as the authors of the blog is still creating content for the audience relate to and share.
Separating formalities on blog sites make it feel more like a conversation and makes the author feel more human than just reading text off a screen. Using this blog as my example, I created this platform to share my research and my own conclusions about virtual communities. I can create content about the topic but it isn't exactly a topic that would generate a community being built. You as my reader are free to comment and share my blog if you feel like this is worth sharing. This blog ideally would have other topics than my capstone project, content that comes from my life experiences or opinions would be much more interesting read. The subject that people would come to read would be about me and whatever it is that I want to talk. Obviously a community can only be built if the readers interested in the perspective of the author are willing to come back and share it with other people. Again, as Gruzd stated, a virtual community can only survive if there is an audience that keeps the group relevant.
Social Networking Sites:
Reaching Social Networking Sites, I think this type of virtual community is more commonly used in our everyday life. This type of virtual community is used to keep a user connected with other users of the platform. On the social networking sites the user is choosing who they want to connect with and can only see and share posts with the people within the network. Users either 'follow' or 'friend' people that they want to connect with. On these platforms users can also create and join specific groups that have a common interest. This has been really popular for letting people connect to others who share the same interests, backgrounds, and values. It is one of the main reasons that there are so many groups dedicated to certain hobbies and interest that no matter where or when people interact, they have someone that they can talk to about a shared passion.
I find that this type of virtual community is the most common. The main reason that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are so popular is because it lets them connect with more people. These sites have allowed for families and close friends to stay in touch despite long distances. People can update each other on their lives and only the select group of people that users have connected with can see it. Facebook is basically the default example of social networking virtual communities. On the website, I have certain people that I have chosen to friend and keep in my network. Futhermore, joining Facebook groups lets me keep in contact with an even more specific group of people. This Facebook group that I joined keeps me in contact with other Rutgers' students want to play volleyball. This group is more specified to what I want and there are people who share the same interest as me.
Microblogging:
Microblogging is a virtual community that is a hybrid of blogging sites and social networks sites. It works as a hybrid because it microbloggers are usually on a social network site while similarly working as a blog space. Bloggers usually have their own website that they use because it is tied to their brand, but microblogging is a more passive form of blogging since it is on a more public platform. Facebook and Twitter are popular microblogging platforms as users can share their opinions or just any kind of post.
Premium Confessions is a personal favorite of mine. It is a microblog where they share their content on Facebook but their posts are very short and meant for entertainment. Their posts are not long posts with well thought and in-depth posts. They are concise and very funny for when I am scrolling through my Facebook feed.
Content Sharing Websites:
Next to the Social Networking virtual communities, Content Sharing Websites are the next most popular. The platforms that I think stand on the top as content sharing websites are Youtube, TikTok, and Instagram. These are the websites that have creators produce content like videos or pictures and that acts as the main draw. Then as fans of the creator's work, a community forms as a mutual love and appreciation for the content and the creators. Content Sharing Websites have been getting increasingly popular as the platforms have started monetizing videos, paying their content creators, and companies even sponsoring content creators for ad space within their videos or pictures.
YouTube specifically, brings in millions of active users everyday. It is very common for popular music artist to post their music videos and get millions and even past billions of views. Then in the comments, fans of the creator are able to express their appreciation for the artist. YouTube even has a community tab now where creators can address and interact with their audience without having to create a video. It is another place where the community are able to interact with each other.
Someone on YouTube even made a video on what the most viewed YouTube videos are. These videos have a billions on top of billions of views. The creators of these videos have a community that support them by watching their content as well as interacting with other a fans in the comment section. The common interest in what certain content creators are able to produce, is what causes virtual communities to form.
Wikis:
To be honest, this was never a platform I thought would have a virtual community but it does make sense that it would have one. One of the great things about the internet is the ability to transfer information and work with other individuals in a collaborative space. A Wiki is defined as a website that allows for its contents to be edited by its users. It sounds like it could be a mess as anyone could post any kind of information on the site, but its users have been very good about having factual and accurate answers on the wiki pages. The communities of these groups are passionate about presenting accurate information on the subject that they love. The most popular wiki site is Wikipedia, a wiki site with information for every topic. The people behind Wikipedia work as a non-profit and are committed to presenting accurate and free information to all. There are also Fan-wikis for other forms of media like movies, tv shows, and video games. These wiki pages are run by a community of fans who want to present accurate information. Most of the time there isn't any who can back up certain claims which is why having a collaborative space is important as they are able to fact each other. Like I said before, not a virtual community that I expected, but one that works well because the internet is a collaborative space.
Virtual Worlds:
This is also another one that I don't have too much experience in as I don't play a lot of MMOs (Mass Multiplayer Online Game). These virtual communities are based in virtual environments, where people use avatars that represent themselves and also allows them to change who they are. All social interactions take place within the game and the community consists only of other people who also play the game. There can also be sub-groups within the game where certain players decide to only play and interact with certain players. In these games, players can interact with one another using text chats or voice chat to communicate with one another. Virtual Worlds provide a very unique and adventurous environment for users and it is the fans of the game that make up the community. The interactions of players is what builds the community as players talk to each other and build relationships as they travel through the world. There are many different kinds of games that have users work together in order to complete tasks. The virtual world basically forces the user to meet other players if they want to progress through the game.
The Sims 4 is a pretty good example of a virtual world. In the game it lets the user create and present themselves in anyway they want. From there they are dropped into the world of The Sims where they can do all kinds of things like get jobs, meet people, play sports, learn hobbies and skills, and apparently there is even a functioning real estate market within the games. The community within in the game are the other players and how the player interacts with other players can determine where they stand in the community.
Gruzd A. (2018) Online Communities. In: Alhajj R., Rokne J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Social Network
Analysis and Mining. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7131-2_81
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