Online communities get real

I found this article from 2003 on online communities.

Online communities get real

via BBC NEWS | Technology | Online communities get real.

It is about how people assume online communities will behave and relationships develop within these communities. It was interesting to note how things have changed over time

One of the initial comments that online communities were “much more localised, more honest and less chaotic than original predictions thought” in 2003. However in 2012, I would perhaps describe communities as less localised but more focused

They also found that people were not “creating false online personas” however this has changed and people are becoming more aware of their digital footprint and are beginning to create online identities which are perhaps different to their own.

Mr Davies. “They don’t really want to get married, meet new people, or make money entirely on the internet. Instead they want to make the internet work for them,” he said. Again this is very different to 2003 as now many people do use the internet to find future husbands and wives. Whole businesses have been set up solely online and have made millions

Other findings are however still current “Social software is being used to support real world interaction and is enhancing face-to-face contact” and the suggestion that “”People are finally ditching the two-worlds view, which separates the internet from everyday life and now realise the two are part of one picture” was forward thinking at the time and appropriate.