Communtity Online! (Assignment 7)

Wikipedia describes an online community as “a group of people that primarily interact via communication media such as letters, telephone, email or Usenet rather than face to face. If the mechanism is a computer network, it is called an online community. Online communities have also become a supplemental form of communication between people who know each other primarily in real life. A computer-mediated community (CMC) uses social software to regulate the activities of participants.” (reference)

There are many different sorts of online communities such as Facebook, Myspace, UB email, chat rooms, and AIM. The one in which I have used the longest and am the most confident discussing is AIM. AIM stands for AOL instant messenger. I do use this service to maintain contact with people that I don’t normally talk to other wise. However, I do sometimes use AIM to discuss important things about classes. For example, in our group project, there are 5 of us, and some live on campus, others live off. We decided it would be easiest to meet over the weekend online. This way everyone could discuss the project from the comfort of their own home. We started a conversation, mostly through AIM and then realized it would be easier to discuss the project in a chartroom. Technology has advanced so much over time with AIM. Its fast, easy and you can clean your room in between messages!

Although chat rooms are a very useful online community as all, AIM is more popular. AIM can link anyone together from any country, at any time. It is different from email because it is “live”. You can type as if you were talking to the person face-to-face, and you are able to receive answers for questions right away.

AIM affects the development of social ties by actually increasing communication among people. If AIM didn’t exist, I know for me personally, I probably wouldn’t have social ties with a lot of people I do because of AIM. It is much easier to send someone and instant message online, than it is to call them, especially if you are shy or do not have a strong relationship with that person. Some people will argue (rightfully so) that AIM can actually have a negative effect on social ties because people will use the instant messenger over actually talking to someone face-to-face or calling them up on the phone. It could perhaps slow down and progression within a relationship.
AIM has many other benefits. You are able to create a profile on AIM where others can get a sense of who you are and vice versa. AIM has become widely popular across the nation. It really helps everyone stay in touch!