Online communities are groups of people who communicate over the internet with a common interest. They originated with personal computer use and have evolved with advances in technology, including real-time communication and social gaming. Avatars allow for virtual lives in games like Second Life. Some become obsessed, but most enjoy interacting with others from around the world. It’s all about people communicating.
An online community is a group of people who communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with a common interest. Before the advent of the Internet, there was no virtual community. Today, vast online communities populate the World Wide Web in chat rooms and arcades around the globe.
The origins of online communities lie somewhere in the beginnings of personal computer use. Small groups of people in colleges, universities, and the military communicated online through message boards and user networks. Common interests brought these pioneers together in the first virtual communities. As the length of the working day increased and the business world began to operate around the clock, computer users wanted the ability to socialize anywhere, any time of day. Many joined an online community to chat with others who kept non-traditional hours or lived in distant time zones.
With the introduction of more sophisticated user interfaces that allowed for the universal sharing of information and images, real-time communication became possible. The online community world has embraced all the advances in information technology that has allowed people to communicate with others online and form real relationships. Soon, online gaming sites began incorporating real-time chat and instant messaging features into the gaming action. In some online games, communication between players is the main purpose and function of the game. Thus was born another type of online community, social gaming.
Humans’ desire to interact with other humans in virtual worlds prompted game designers to introduce simple animated characters, known as virtual avatars or bodies. Each avatar is a unique animated being controlled by a single live participant. Avatars live in a virtual world inhabited by other avatars. As graphics and connectivity have improved, players are able to write their avatar’s abilities and appearance to be convincingly realistic. Smooth 3D animations and advanced scripting techniques allow players to make avatars do just about anything they want.
In a popular online game called Second Life ®, millions of participants lead virtual lives with spouses, homes, pets, jobs, cars, shopping, and all the jokes and pitfalls of reality. Some gamers become so obsessed with their online community that they start eschewing real life in favor of a virtual life. But most people just enjoy interacting online with others from all over the world. No matter what form an online community takes, in the end it’s all about people reaching out and communicating.
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