From Sunday April 13

Online Communities

Although running slightly behind the eight-ball with my brand new blog, I will start with the week 6 topic online communities (and maybe catch up the others later on).

Recently there has been a huge rise the amount of online communities available to internet users. Why this has occurred is up for debate but some reasons could be the rise in perceived danger that is associated with traditional face-to-face contact, for example mothers rarely spend all day in the backyard chatting anymore (sunburn?), children don't play in the street anymore (possible abduction?) and people rarely go on blind dates anymore (abduction, general humiliation?). It is interesting to consider these factors when looking at the different online communities that are out there.

Online communities form and organise themselves for a number of reasons. Bruns (2008) outlines the major ones as being:

• Active user participation as content creators

• New forms of personal and community identity

• New forms of collaboration.

• Ability to operate in fields of interest neglected by mainstream media, business, politics and research.

• Reciprocity: People contribute to communities with the expectation they will receive useful information for themselves in return.

Examples of prominent online communities are Bub Hub, Australian Music Online and Fanpop. These sites are all examples areas in which like-minded people can collaborate, share ideas, watch content related to their interests and talk to others through forum based participation.

This rise in online communities has really widened the gap between traditional media and new media technologies. It is due to the rise in technology that this interaction between people can occur so easily, and at any time or place. Traditional media cannot really provide this same interaction, and now it is common plave for television show producers to also cater to their audiences online. This may be through online 'update' based sites such as that for It Takes Two on Channel 7 and that forBigBrother on Network 10 or it can be a site that provides actual television content for viewers to watch (MTV), either for the first time or as a subsequent viewing after watching the show on TV. This has also enabled Australian viewers to watch American content as it airs in the US.

The collaboration of communities is a direct reflection of the intellect and interest of those participating online. Flew states that "The value for the communities' particpants stems from their personal and intellectual diversity... the willingness of memebers to participate in some from of collectivist economy... [and] to establish friendships which may be ephemeral or long lasting." Such characteristics are often contrasted to the traditional old media such as the TV (2006, 63).

I am not personally a part of any online communities. I do not add to forums, so I would not classify myself as a member. I do however, sometimes read forums and I do watch online television (often the comments are under the video) and I do use YouTube... so maybe I am more involved than I think??

P.