Communities are something you might build with or without realizing it. You mingle with your neighbors and classmates, you run into familiar faces at the grocery store and fitness center, you meet friends of friends and talk about shared interests. You are expanding your community and interacting with your community quite often whether you believe it or not.
Online communities, on the other hand, take on a whole different role. You can find people with similar interest and engage in a community with those like-minded people. You can discuss topics of interests, share stories, get feedback, learn from one another. Sounds like normal stuff you do every day within your community, however, by being online, it gives the "community" a new perspective. You can engage with people from all over the world without ever meeting one another. You can learn more from being able to access more information at once with less time demands. You only have so much free time to chit-chat at your local grocery store or mingle after your workout class. Most people live busy lives and don't always have that time for the personal interaction. By having online communities everyone can get involved on their own time, at their own pace, and how often they choose to.
Different communities have different norms. It's interesting after exploring a few online fitness communities to see how those different communities interact. Some communities are more active than others and the members provide plenty of support for one another, while some communities are not as active but provide great resources and tools for their members.
My favorite aspect of online communities is being able to get involved at your own pace. Where as in person you are basically forced to make small talk when you run into familiar faces in your community. Sometimes it can be uncomfortable or timely, and the online community takes away those worries.
What's your favorite aspect of online communities?
Just like you, I like participating in online communities because I can meet people sharing common interests from all over the world. Even though we share common research interests, we can exchange our different opinions and experiences based our different cultures. Another reason for participating in online community is that we feel like we are in a great team in which we can be recognized, heard, and valued. I like the feeling that I am not alone about this.
ReplyDeleteYes it is so neat to interact with people who live outside your physical community. People you would have never had the opportunity to engage with if it weren't for the web and these online communities. You are definitely not alone!
ReplyDeleteI like that they are right there when I need them. I feel like it is hard to maintain in-person communities today when everyone is go go go all the time. You can find the support you need without waiting two weeks to get lunch with someone. I've also found professionally online communities are of great help. When you need outside perspective to get your brain going on a project, online communities are the place I turn.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite aspect in being a part of an online community is the chance to hear from experts. I joined two dog-related communities for this class project and it has been a wonderful experience hearing the perspectives of veterinarians, dog behaviorists, and dog groomers. Being part of a community helps keep the pressure off in having to know everything about how to take care of my dog. I can go to the community for answers. Most of the time, I receive supportive comments and responses. There is an element of being a part of a team, something bigger than just you. That support is very valuable to me.
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