Virtual communities have at least four characteristics: First, the virtual community through the computer, cell phones and other high-tech communication technology as the medium of communication can exist, thus excluding the real community; Second, the virtual community interaction has a cluster, thus excluding the two-two interaction of the network services; Third, the community members of the identity of the fixed, thus precluding the network of the composition of the unfixed group of people **** chat rooms; Fourth, the community members of the fixed status, thus excluding the network of people composed of the unfixed **** Chat rooms; Fourth, community members must be able to feel the presence of other members after entering the virtual community.
The type of virtual community according to the communication of real-time, can be divided into synchronous and asynchronous two categories: synchronous virtual communities such as network online games, asynchronous communities such as BBS. The most important forms of virtual communities are BBS, USENET, MUD, gradually formed in the country to BBS as the main form of expression, combined with other synchronous and asynchronous information interaction technology to form a networked digital community form.
Community refers to a certain social activities, with a certain kind of interactive relationship and *** with the cultural maintenance force of human groups and their activities in the region. Virtual community, from the point of view of network technology, virtual community, also known as BBS (abbreviation of Buletin Board System), forums. 1978 in the Chicago area computer exchange, Krison (Krison) and Rose (Russ Lane) at first sight, so the two people often in various aspects of cooperation. However, the two did not live together, and telephone calls allowed only verbal communication, and some issues were difficult to express clearly with words. Chicago winter storms and make them can not meet every day, so they just listed with the help of the modem (Modem) will be their home two Apple Ⅱ through the telephone line connected together, the realization of the world's first BBS. this is the prototype of the original BBS. In recent years under the rapid development of Internet technology, BBS in the function has been continuously expanded, and quickly become the world's computer users to exchange information on the garden - virtual community. From a sociological point of view, it refers to the formation of the ****same body with cultural identity and its activities by the frequent social interactions of Internet users in the electronic cyberspace.
It can be seen that the virtual community, like the real community, also contains a certain place, a certain group of people, the corresponding organization, the participation of community members and some of the same interests, culture and other qualities. And the most important point is that the virtual community, like the real community, provides a variety of means of exchanging information, such as discussion, communication, chatting and so on, so that community residents can interact. But at the same time, it has its own unique attributes.
First of all, the interactions in virtual communities have a supra-temporal nature. Through the network, communication between people is not subject to geographical constraints, as long as you have a computer, a telephone line, and people anywhere in the world (also has the corresponding hardware conditions) to speak freely. Speaking of which, some people will say, the phone also has this function ah? However, in the virtual community to chat for an hour is to call the international long-distance Kan an hour of the economic cost of one thousandth of the pressure of chatting can be imagined. At the same time is not subject to time constraints, you post a post today, not necessarily someone will be, but a few days later may be on the top ten. This convenience is probably beyond the reach of the telephone!
Second, interpersonal interaction is anonymous and thoroughly symbolic. In the virtual community, Internet users identify themselves with an ID number, which is determined by their personal preferences. For example, "hard disk", a look is a computer hardware enthusiasts, "red leaves floating", is estimated to be a person with taste, "submarine", is estimated to be a military enthusiasts. ...... In reality, it is unlikely that someone would come up with such a name. At the same time, because each other can not see each other's "Lushan true face". Therefore, the traditional gender, age, appearance, etc. in the virtual community can be changed at will. There's a saying on the Internet: The person you're chatting with may be a dog.
Once again, interpersonal relationships are looser, and community groups are more fluid. The vitality of the community depends on "popularity" and click-through rates, and the main attraction to these is whether the theme of the community is suitable for the public's taste. The former is well understood, in the Jiaotong University BBS, generally "second-hand market", "work and study", "magpie version", "movies", "games", "movies", "games". ", "games" is more popular, because these meet the college students "no money" hope to make friends and "empty" characteristics. In contrast, the technical versions such as "Database" and "Math" are "closed".
Finally, freedom, equality, democracy, autonomy and ****-enjoyment are the basic norms of virtual communities. This feature is in fact related to the anonymity of human interaction, where the traditional hierarchy is replaced by the "bamboos", as long as you do not violate the forum regulations, you can say anything, commonly known as "irrigation".
To become a member of the virtual community, "the threshold is very low" in general, to use the community to provide various functions and services, you must register online. The basic process is first of all, the registrant to read the network network of relevant laws and regulations and community terms of service paragraph, and submit an application for consent; community management system to ask the registrant some of the circumstances, such as name, gender, age, identity card number, occupation and so on. The registrant must fill in the information truthfully, and the system is able to verify it. Then take an account name and set a password, the whole registration process is basically completed. Once the registration is successful, the person becomes a legal resident of the community. Community residents have a unique account, this account is his passport in the virtual community, is the only sign of community residents to identify each other. In order to live in the community, residents must abide by the rules and regulations of the community and the code of conduct, or else they will be expelled by the community administrator or blocked post rights!
The community (mainly BBS) mainly provides the following functions:
1 Community communication. Community for each resident to provide an electronic mailbox, residents can use the mailbox to send and receive mail, mutual communication, conducive to non-simultaneous online, the residents of the exchange. Some large forums provide cell phone text messaging function, more convenient for the exchange between the netizens. Of course, it is not free, usually the other side of the "bill".
2 Chat service. The virtual community provides residents with two kinds of real-time interactive chat services, chatting in addition to text expression, the system is also preset with a wealth of expressions and actions for the call (some can also be used to voice real-time conversation). The first is the Chat Plaza, where anyone can come and go freely, and there is no restriction on the content of the conversation. The second is a chat room, where the person who opens the room is the owner of the room, and he can control the content of the conversation, as well as picking and choosing who to chat with. I have heard that a lot of cyber love affairs have come out of this place. The touching love story of the popular web novel Plankton Cai and the Light Dancing Flyer took place in the chat room some time ago.
3 Post a discussion. This is one of the most basic and important functions of a virtual community. Residents can freely express their thoughts in the community mainly in the form of text, such as making suggestions, discussing, asking questions, answering questions, and so on, which all end up in the form of posted articles (posts). Residents can also repost their favorite novels, essays, etc. in the community. Currently, many community systems in China already also allow residents to add file uploads, posting pictures, emoticon actions, etc. to their posts. In this way, the post becomes colorful and lively. This makes residents' communication more effective. The "Northwestern University Japanese Student Incident" was initiated mainly through the BBS. Parade movement is also through the Northwest University Forum and Jiaotong University "Terracotta Warriors" form of posting to follow the form of provocation. This shows the influence of BBS in the university voice!
4 Voting residents in the community on an issue to initiate a vote or vote, so as to poll the community residents. At the same time residents in the process of voting also posted discussions to show their views. This kind of voting is more transparent, democratic and open than the real voting. The results also truly reflect the preferences of Internet users.
At present, there are three main types of influential virtual communities in China: the first type, suitable for the general public, with hobbies and recreation as the main focus, such as the distribution of the NetEase community in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianya community, Zhanjiang's Bixaiyinsha, etc.; the second type, suitable for college students, with the main focus on the university campus learning and life, such as the Tsinghua's "Shuimuqinghua The second category is suitable for college students, focusing on the study life on college campuses, such as Tsinghua's "Shui Mu Qing Hua" community, Peking University's "a mess" community, Jiaotong University's "Terracotta Warriors" community, etc. These two types of communities are relatively large, with hundreds of thousands of members, or even more than a million, and the number of online users is usually several thousand, which has a certain influence in the country. These two types of communities are relatively large, with hundreds of thousands or even millions of members and thousands of online users. The third category is the educational websites and online schools, targeting teachers and secondary school students, which are relatively small in scale and do not have many members. All this shows that the virtual community in China has a certain influence and scale, and its application to online teaching is not only possible but also necessary. However, at this stage of the application is in its infancy, there is a vast space for research and development.
Virtual and real communities are not completely independent. The relationship between them is just like, the relationship between matter and consciousness. Network communities are derived from real communities, and virtual communities are the "projection" of real space in virtual space. First of all, the service sections provided by virtual communities are also set according to people's real needs; the lifestyle and concepts in the real communities affect the construction of virtual communities. Secondly, the services provided by the virtual community are the extension and improvement of the services of the real community. The traditional use of paper as the medium of the letter transmission, the development of email transmission. Although the medium and speed are different, the format of email content is still the same as the traditional letter format. Out of reality, virtual communities cannot exist.
At the same time, the online community influences and counteracts the real community. A series of features such as openness and transparency, emphasis on the individual, and so on, will profoundly affect the society online. We should see that democracy is not a slogan, is a way of life, attitude to life, and the network community of many of the ideas of the law can be used to correct some of the deficiencies in the management and system of the real society. It is easy for the public to express their opinions, and at the same time, it is easy for the government to realize inexpensive and efficient management. The Internet is popular because it provides a haven of freedom in which different opinions are respected and not excluded. Problems are solved and differences are eliminated through discussion and debate. Online communities give everyone full voice. Many governments have opened online mailboxes or leaders answering the public's questions online, and have received good results.
In short, the online community and the real community are complementary and interactive, and are fundamentally the same. Both should take advantage of their strengths and make up for each other. Network community makes the real community impossible to become possible. The network community space opens up human thinking. From the point of view of network community members, the so-called reality is nothing but the development from a previous possibility. The two are complementary rather than substitutes. The online community is an impact on the existing way of life, and at the same time, it is also a development of the real social space.
Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Online communities also have their own limitations. First of all, although the network community enables people to obtain the freedom and relaxation that cannot be obtained in the real society, the current cost of using the network community is still quite high. Due to the unbalanced development of technology in our country, those who use the Internet are in fact the most influential class with high cultural quality and high income, resulting in the de facto inequality of the Internet community. Secondly, in the process of copying the real society, the network community will delete or exaggerate (intentionally or unintentionally) some details, resulting in the distortion and disorientation of the development of the network community. Especially at present, the management of online community basically originates from individual conscience and morality, without effective legal means, the problem of misbehavior of online community is quite prominent. Once again, the interpersonal relationship of online community appears to be relatively fragile. By means of code names to hide part of the identity, each member of an online community can freely choose his or her own identity, position, and method of communication, accompanied by a clear secrecy. Finally, if netizens indulge in the virtual world of online communities, treating them as the actuality of life and becoming a haven to escape from reality, they will naturally cold or neglect real interpersonal relationships, resulting in a disconnection between netizens and reality, and adversely affecting netizens' social survival. A common mistake made by members of the Internet community is to confuse the ideal with the reality, and the strong contrast makes them full of disappointment, misunderstanding, anger, disharmony, frustration, and even a little bit of sadness and frustration with the reality. If people can forever "network indulgence" and do not return to the real world, then nothing will happen, but things are not so simple, people are always the product of reality, and ultimately to return to reality, close the computer, open the curtains, the outside is still traffic, you are not the network in the flavor of the "prawns". "Prawns", and must immediately go to the market to buy spinach and pork for lunch. So we have to look at the virtual community correctly.