"Peg Communities"- as a coat pegs on which we choose to temporarily hang parts of our identities(Bell, D., 2000).I believe that people that are part of virtual communities cary who they are in real life over to the virtual community and carry who they are in a virtual community over to real life. I think if you are true to yourself you are the same person in both communities. I think that there maybe an aspect of yourself that is brought out more in one community than it i in another simply because of the nature of that community. For example someone who is a wow player probably brings out a little more of their violent side out in the game than they do at church but that is because that is what that game is about doesn't mean that they are putting a certain hat on a peg. I believe that being a part of multiple communities is a way to make sure all the dimensions of your personality are shown I think the use of a computer to do it makes no difference. I think that if your are part of an online community that can be just as cohesive if not more so than someone who ice fishes for example you are not necessarily with a lot of people while ice fishing but it may be something you discuss with other ice fishers when you are at work and it brings you closer together just like if you where a gamer it would bring you closer to your gaming buddies. Another group that does not necessarily do an activity together but is still brought together by the activity is people who watch big brother or survivor or any other show you want to name Grey's anatomy each person watches it on their own time on the TV computer or cell phone and then they have discussions about what they saw with people.
Refrences:
Bell, D, & Kennedy, M. (2000). The Cybercultures reader. New York: Routledge.
http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/games/halo3/
www.worldofwarcraft.com
http://www.onlinepokerxperience.com/
I choose these three gamming communities because I think it will be interesting to see how much they are simmilar and different. My three communities are Halo, World of Warcraft, and Online Poker Experience.
I like how you argue about how there are no differences between online and rl communities (i mean communities that occur in physical meatspace) but I want to know more about differences between these. Do you think being forced to participate in a community provides a different experience when compared to those online that are by choice?
ReplyDelete