Virtual Communities and Keeping It Real

Assignment: Using Reddit.com, explore virtual communities and the idea of keeping it real: Does social media allow people to hide from reality, reshape reality, or offer some of both

The purpose of this assignment is to examine the role that virtual communities play in the daily lives of Internet users. Investigate the various issues and interests that join a community (some are single issue organizations; some address a variety of issues from a particular perspective, and so forth). You must research the kinds of relationships formed in virtual communities. Do people make lasting ties on the Internet? Is an online friendship a “real” friendship if two people never meet face to face? Are the emotions shared online less important than if two people were sitting in the same room? Are people who spend time meeting and conversing on the Internet hiding from the “real” world? Or is cyberspace another, new manifestation of what we consider to be “real?”

The traditional definition of community means that a group that - no matter what issue or issues join the participants - shares physical space such as neighborhoods, villages, sports arenas, or colleges). Virtual communities transcend physical barriers, and exist in cyberspace. How do we categorize the emotions and opinions that are shaped and shared in cyberspace?

Your paper should have some basic background on virtual communities. But your main focus will be on Reddit.com, a popular website where users post items and members vote them up or down, a system that means more popular posts remain easily found.

In the words of Reddit’s activists, Reddit is a lot like life

Watch this: Here is a short video showing how reddit works AT YouTube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlI022aUWQQ&spfreload=10%20Message%3A%20JSON%20Parse%20error%3A%20Unexpected%20EOF%20(url%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DtlI022aUWQQ)

Examine Reddit posts and responses, with the above claim in mind. The posts themselves are interesting, but the richness of the community is found in the comments and crusades involving members of Reddit.

Choose two Subreddits to follow.

-One must be involved in some way with breaking news (for instance, in the past three months events involving police murders (Ferguson, MO), war (ISIS and Middle East), and the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong have been much discussed on Reddit).

-You should spend at least 4 hours per week surfing Reddit and taking notes.

-Try to get to know the IDs of various, regular posters on the Subreddits that you follow

Also

-Find Reddit members commenting on Reddit itself

-Examine ways Reddit interacts with world

-Find out about life on Reddit from the membership (search for it)

Last month Reddit had

] reddit had 174, 088, 361 visitors, from 186 countries

Deadlines for Keeping It Real: Does social media allow people to hide from reality or reshape reality.

*OCTOBER 15: Find two Subreddits to follow. One must involve some aspect of breaking news

*OCTOBER 29: Group presentation on character and quality of ties that bind the Reddit community (this should reflect your notes on classroom and group discussions as well as notes from your reading.

*NOVEMBER 12: 700-word (approx. three page paper due) Follow MLA format guidelines

Things to consider:

-What role has social media played in recent years involving political activity outside the normal channels (established media; elected officials; events sanctioned by the instruments of power? (Obama appearance, Arab Spring (2011) http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/2012919115344299848.html)

-What price would we pay for living in a world where Internet connections replace unmediated human connections? In other words, what if we worked online from home (as more and more of us do), and chose our friends from various online communities we were part of? How would our behaviour and/or our values be changed or shaped?

-Are virtual communities the societies of the future? Will virtual communities someday lead the often violently fragmented human population to identifying as citizens of the world first and foremost?

-Realtime vs. virtual identity. When we shape a virtual version of ourselves that allows us to change the image we project to the world and eventually to ourselves, is that version inauthentic or not real? Is it possible to have two or more identities that involve significant interaction with others?

-Will the possibilities offered by cyberspace shape the meaning of identity in the future?

-In your mind, what would a networked society look like? Do you see a future where virtual relationships change and there is a shift from individuals who depend on social relations that are locally embedded, unmediated and stable relationships to networked individuals who are more dependent on their own combination of strong and weak ties, cross boundaries and weave their own fluid relationships.

-Possible dangers involving social media

-Boston Marathon bombing

-No editors: spread of disinformation

-In some cases little individual responsibility to larger community

-Trolls: Concerns with a virtual community's tendency to promote less socializing include: verbal aggression and inhibitions, promotion of suicide and issues with privacy.

-A disappearance of the flesh-and-blood individual?  

Possible good things:

-Internet communities offer the advantage of instant information exchange that is not possible in a real-life community: Arab Spring, Hong Kong, Ferguson etc. Examine the role of Twitter in these matters. For example: During the 2011 week before Egyptian president Hosni Mubaraks resignation the total rate of tweets from Egypt — and around the world — about political change in that country ballooned from 2,300 a day to 230,000 a day.  Videos featuring protest and political commentary went viral – the top 23 videos received nearly 5.5 million views.

-Facebook passes 1.23 billion monthly active users, 945 million mobile users, and 757 million daily users. As part of the financial results for its fourth quarter, Facebook today announced a number of new milestones. The social network has now passed 1.23 billion monthly active users.

-Internet communities offer the advantage of instant information exchange that is not possible in a real-life community (Twitter). Users of online communities have access to thousands of specific discussion groups where they can form specialized relationships and access information in such categories as: politics, technical assistance, social activities, health (see above) and recreational pleasures.

-Members of communities are attracted to the sense of membership – friends, fellow travelers – from their online personnae

Reading

-Al Jazeera Arab Spring: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/2012919115344299848.html

-Some of the most interesting writing related to this subject is by William Gibson, who’s “Bridge Trilogy” - Virtual Light, Idoru (particularly), All Tomorrow’s Parties

-Howard Rheingold is a pioneer in examine the social implications of virtual community.  His website is a good source for material. http://rheingold.com -

-USC’s Center for the Digital Future (http://digitalcenter.org