Can a Virtual World be a Culture?

It seems that technology has allowed for new ways for people to socialize, form and maintain relationships, and access information. Now, virtual worlds have far surpassed any means of alternate communications. Though the foundation of virtual worlds is mainly fictional, these alternate worlds provide practically everything the real world provides. This is possibly why these worlds have the tendency to become so life consuming for so many people.

I was able to find a blog post that comments on the extent of virtual worlds and the people who frequent them. “Millions of people around the world today spend portions of their lives in online virtual worlds.” They go on to explain the endless possibilities that virtual worlds offer including buying property, falling in love, and going to bars or concerts to name a few. These possibilities are more or less the same as those of real life, but they are accessed though a computer and are often fictional. Still, many people become greatly involved in virtual worlds. So much so that Tom Boellstorff studied the virtual world, Second Life, in the same way that anthropologists studied traditional (real world) cultures; by entering Second Life, experiencing the virtual world and observing interactions.

I am intrigued that virtual worlds have become so predominate that they are actually being studied by anthropologists. Though I am beginning to grasp how extensive virtual worlds can be, I have never viewed Second Life as its own culture. This shows that the involvement in virtual worlds is growing, and people are taking notice. I would argue that face to face interaction should hold precedence to socializing via the internet, but for many people Second Life is far from secondary.

Related Link: http://www.experientia.com/blog/category/virtual-world/

Defining Community

Lately, our class has been putting a lot of focus on virtual communities. To best understand virtual communities we first look at the term community in general, and how it is defined. It is important to question what essentially makes a community different from any other group. To do this, our class made note of various characteristics of communities. Also, we debated the differences between groups, social networks, and communities. However, the qualifications for what differentiates a community from other groups are still unclear.
I decided to look for some help defining the word community, and according to Wikipedia, the way we refer to the word community has evolved. Rather than being defined as a group with social cohesion, common values and shared location as it once was, it is now considered a group of individuals who share characteristics, but not necessarily a common geographical location (Wikipedia). This broadens the definition of community quite a bit. The lack of importance on location allows for virtual groups to be considered communities since virtual group members often live far apart. However, I wonder if this definition is too broad.
If similar characteristics are what make a community then people who have no actual relation to one another can be considered a community simply for their similarities. I would argue that a community takes much more than similar characteristics in its members. In class, we felt that shared interests, frequency, and sense of belonging were the most major traits of a community, not similar characteristics.
There are many opinions of what makes a group a community, and they vary greatly. Because of this, it is difficult if not impossible for only one objective definition of community to exist. There is only one trait that seems to appear in all definitions of community, and this is the sense of all members having something in common. What this common factor is, and whether or not there are other essential characteristics of community is debatable. It is undeniable that we can all identify communities, but truly defining the word community is certainly no easy task.

Online Class Versus Traditional Class

Through out my time at Westminster College, all of the classes that I have taken have been traditional with specific meeting times and in-class lecture and discussion. I’ve grown pretty accustom to waking up, walking to class, participating in discussion, and forming relationships with my professors and classmates. This week was different because our class did not meet. Instead we had online course work. For me, this was an entirely new experience. The online course, though probably not a completely adequate online class experience, gave me the opportunity to find out what an online class is like, and to assess the two different class experiences.
At first I was thrilled that I did not have to go to class. However, I was a bit nervous about getting my work done on time and understanding all of the assignments because usually I can rely on seeing my professor in class to ask questions. It’s pretty common to feel this way as I discovered from an article titled, “Pros and Cons of Online Courses vs. a Traditional Classroom” by Julie Wenzel. In this article I found that not having the convenience of seeing your instructor in class to ask questions, or to help with understanding is an issue for a lot of people who take online classes (Wenzel, 1). A few other “cons” that Julie mentions is the possibility of lacking the self discipline that an online class requires, and the disadvantage of not being able form relationships with professors and classmates as easily (Wenzel, 3). I can relate to these disadvantages, but there are a lot of advantages involved in online classes too.
Similar to what the article discusses, I found that online classes are much more flexible than traditional classes. With an online class, you are able to do the course work in your free time, and have the convenience of planning your time without the restraints of class meetings. Furthermore, not having to make the commute to class is always a bonus. Overall, I enjoyed the online class experience, but I still like having the more personal experience of traditional class.
I think that the most favorable option would be a mixture of the two. After all, it is not necessary to meet every day for class with so much technology available to us, but having relationships with classmates and teachers is an important part of the college experience. I’m glad to have had the experience of an online class so that I know all there is to know about my options for classes in the future.