Online Communities!!
The community i am going to focus on is Facebook (www.facebook.com)
What is the brief or focus of this community, what are their services? How can people contribute?
According to their website "Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.
Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet."
(http://www.facebook.com/facebook?ref=pf#!/facebook?v=info&ref=pf)
I think people contribute and sign up to facebook because they have a need to feel connected and 'in the loop'. it is a social norm in today's world to have at least one social networking page.
"C4 Video Hits Miley Cyrus vs Taylor Swift equals awesome!" This is a topic posted by one of my friends that is being discussed on facebook. There are many random topics such as these on facebook.
Facebook raises many potential ethical issues such as lack of accountability, information theft. People are able to upload any images, including ones which have been taken without permission from the subject. Images are easily copied and stolen off the site and may be distributed without the uploader or subject knowing.
For me facebook provides an essential link to my friends overseas. It is redefining the idea of a community. Facebook completely removes any geographic boundaries and even language barriers.
The one thing facebook can not provide is the sense of family or togetherness you may get from a face to face traditional community.
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