People in the Virtual Community Cover Image

Човекът във виртуалната общност
People in the Virtual Community

Author(s): Gergana Georgieva
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Communication studies, Sociology, Sociology of Art
Published by: Факултет по журналистика и масова комуникация, Софийски университет „Св. Кл. Охридски”
Keywords: virtual community; social media; netiquette; netizen; technology-mediated communication

Summary/Abstract: The introduction of the term “virtual community” is accredited to the American writer, critic, teacher and freelance journalist Howard Rheingold and his seminal book from 1993 The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. He theorizes the virtual communities as “social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling,to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace.” In his book Rheingold reflects on computer-mediated communication based on his own experience with one of the oldest and still functioning virtual communities The WELL (from Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link), created in 1985. What are the types of the virtual communities and their characteristics and attributes? What is the life cycle of a virtual community and what are the different levels of interaction of its members? What are the main elements of the digital citizenship? Ever since the 90s of the 20th century the definition of the virtual community has been evolving and upgraded by a number of researchers in the field of the new technology-mediated communications. The rapid development of technology and their growing presence in everyday life pose more and more questions in front of theorists and practitioners.

  • Issue Year: 2018
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 60-75
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Bulgarian