Virtual Community

Effects of the virtual community and social environment

As virtual communities have been growing in our social communities, it has formed its unique characteristics. Virtual communities involves in social engagement, each particular culture, and combination of valuable purposes. Virtual communities such as online community depict mediated form of language and represent a shared code.
Virtual communities are composed of messy-tangled-web networks, also called ‘rhizomic relationship’.

For Social Capital, it is very broad meaning for itself. According to Cox, social capital is “the processes between people which establish networks, norms and social trust and facilitate co-ordination and co-operation for mutual benefit”. Well, but when it comes to online community, the definition itself might be little bit different. Erika questioned us that whether it precondition or outcome of virtual community. If social capital really do have equal relation between individuals and has horizontal hierarchy structure, in my point of view, it could vary. In economic, it provides us unconsciously gift, also into other aspects of goodwill. However, could social capital have any potential for central and local level of control? I mean, although social capital has low control and has convenient method that approach us in some stage, do they always function in same way?

Social capital generates virtual community and also, vice versa. During the virtual community approach us in all different ways; it creates social bonding; strong tie and weak ties. They formulate the ties via time, emotional intensity, mutual confidence (Trust) and reciprocity. Because they links to strong bond to weak bond, the virtual communities influence part of our lives and also, real community.

According to Bargh and Mckenna’s research on ‘the Internet and Social life’ (in New York University), as internet becoming part of everyday life, there are more potentiality to weaken social community ties. However, I think we have to consider that virtual communities reach different influential version in each different purpose, resulted in various outcomes.

David Holmes analyzed general virtual community, overall, in globalization and localization, convergence and divergence of the virtual community.

In my point of view, these network community also change (we live on fast-changing virtual community period?) in 10 years, maybe in 50 years? There is no doubt that we will continue to develop these rhizomic relationships but to what valuable effect we looking for in our social network? Is it actually taking from us what we once held as being valuable?