Table of Contents

• About This Essay
• How to Use This Essay
• Introduction
• About Virtual Communities
• A Definition
• What Makes It a Community?
• The Technology
• The Tools
• Reality versus Pseudocommunities
• What isn't a Virtual Community?
• Making CyberFriends
• So Just Where Does One Find a Virtual Community?
• Joining Up
• The Who - What's in a Name?
• Life in CyberWorld
• Do You Speak Cyberish?
• Emotions and Netiquette
• The "Iggy" Feature
• Advantages and Disadvantages
• Tales, Wales and Woes
• Disorders/Illnesses of Virtual Communities
• Security Issues
• Meeting Face-to-Face
• The Survey Says
• Conclusion
• The Future
• Appendix A - Survey Questions
• Appendix B - Glossary
• Appendix C - References/Bibliography/Links

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About This Essay

The following essay has been written for a University course. It contains information obtained from surveys of friends, exerts of my own experiences and information found while researching the topic. The information contained in this essay is not meant to infringe on any copyrights and there is a list of the links or sources of information contained in the References/Bibliography section of this essay or where possible a direct link is provided within the material. Any direct quotes are in "italics and quotes" and the link or source is indicated either shortly before or after the quotation.

Why is it online and in this web site? Many of my online friends expressed an interest in knowing more about this essay when I asked for their input on it. I sent a survey to ascertain certain information to assist in my writing of this essay – click here for the results. Also, it seemed only fitting that an essay on virtual communities should be posted in cyberspace and on a virtual community web site.

It should be noted the topic of Virtual Communities is vast. Of recent, countless books and articles have been written on the subject. This essay will by no means touch on everything. If you wish to find out more, then you may want to further pursue links and items listed in the References/Bibliography section.

How to Use This Essay

I have broken the essay into sections to avoid long pages and wearing out scrolling buttons or fingers. This page acts as a Table of Contents. However, each section also includes links to the other sections. While a particular section may catch your eye, it is best if sections are read in order as listed on this page.

If you have any questions on this essay or comments you may email me.(hearts_r4me@yahoo.com)

Thanks for your time and I hope you enjoy this essay and the rest of this site.

Next Section - Introduction and About Virtual Communities