Growing up in a small town has led me to know or at least think that I know what exactly a community is. I have been involved in local activities since elementary school and to me being an active member in my town is what community is to me.
I have yet to grasp the concept of an online community. Yes, I do have Facebook but I don’t really think too much of it other than a way to stay connected with friends who aren’t in Chico.
Since beginning this online journalism class it has dawned upon me all the ways people think of the word community and what it means to them. People have numerous amounts of groups online that all have some common interest. But with all the communities out there how does one find the time to be active on all of them let alone one? It seems that if you want to be taken seriously on most online communities you need to post ideas several times.
Although I do see the upside in online communities providing a place for people with common interests to meet and communicate, I am more of a face-to-face person. Community to me is all about real life and sometimes I don’t think the Internet is all that real. The term meatspace is more preferable to me than cyberspace.
When I think of all the people meeting online rather than meeting out in the real world I can’t help but think what is going to happen to our social skills in the future? What is going to happen to the way we communicate with each other? With these questions in mind, watch this clip from Disney’s Wall- E (to really understand my point begin at 1:07).
