Cyber Community

http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-online-community/

This website is an award for most popular online community of the years 2008. As you could see that these online communities are all classify under “interest” categories. The members of these online chatting forums had come together and establish communities that separate them from others. As Bell said “Community’. It’s a word we all use, in many different ways, to talk about . . . what? About belonging and exclusion, about ‘us’ and ‘them’. It’s a common-sense thing, used in daily discussions, in countless associations, from ‘care in the community’ to the Community Hall; from ‘community spirit’ to the ‘business community.” Same goes for the member of this community they consider themselves as members to a specific group, build a surrounding in which they associated and befriended with only the people who share their interests, and standing on common ground. Anyone of us considers ourselves to be a part of a community in which we contribute and share. As for the argument against the online communities brought up the reason that online community take us away from real life and real life situation. However, as Edensor states “These kinds of communities, moreover, only exist because their members believe in them, and maintain them through shared cultural practices.” Sometimes in real life a person could feel uncomfortable, and not knowing where they belong to but when online they could find their community (only one click away,) it will become the heaven where no awkwardness or physical embarrassments could happened, and shy and introvert individuals could express their characteristics and be constructive, than why not let it happened. As Bell mentioned “Detraditionalization frees us from old obligations, and lets us give community a postmodern make-over – and again the Internet offers possibilities to substantially re-imagine the very notion of community.”