Tutorial Six: The internet and online communities
“An online community is a virtual community that exists online and whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership ritual” (Wikipedia, 2011) so under this topic I decided to look more closely at social networks. I am a huge fan of art and photography so each social network site I have chosen gives you the chance to share your pictures online with people from all over the world. Here are links to the sites I have chosen.
DeviantArt is the first online community I have listed; it is a website which allows anyone wherever they are in the world to share their art publically online. There is no limit to what people can put up it can be anything from sketches, photos and paintings to murals and sculptures the list is endless. One thing I really like about this site is that it allows any other members of the site to view and comment their opinions on your work. I think that the purpose of this site is to get peoples work out and seen by others, it gives them a chance to share their creations with millions of others and see what they think. The second community I found is the common facebook, I chose Facebook not only because I am a frequent user but because it also has some of the same aspects as deviantArt like the sharing of photos. Although this may not be Facebooks main feature and what it is known for I still think it is a very good feature as it too allows people to share with people pictures as well as allowing them to leave their comments I think the purpose of this website is to share your feeling and opinions as well as keeping in contact. Flickr.com, like DeviantArt focuses its website around photographs. Just like Facebook and DeviantArt Flickr allows you to share your photos with people all over the world and receive comments as well. All of these sites give people means of communication through pictures and art.
Although having something’s in common all of these sites also offer some very different services. DeviantArt for example is solely based around art; it has online forums and chat rooms where you can discuss topics with any other members of the site as well as having the availability to purchase peoples prints. Facebook offers a huge base around keeping in contact with people by being able to leave them messages on their pages, post status updates as well as keeping up to date with everyone and their lives. Flickr is another website based around art but more specifically photographs it allows you to share photographs and videos with people you know.
The reason to why I think people contribute to the site deviantArt is it is a way to express yourself as well as a way to get other people’s views on your works. With Facebook I think the reason people contribute to it is it is a very good way to keep in contact with people no matter where in the world you are. With flickr I think that people like having the chance to show their pictures and videos with all their friends to share fun times like holidays or trips they may have had.
Here are some topics discussed on these sites:
Deviant art has many different forums that anyone can comment on like this topic for example “What do you spend most of your money on”. Facebook has many pages and groups that people can discuss such as this topic for example: When someone says "stop" my brain says "Hammertime!” Flickr has groups similar such as “The world through photography”. Each site has a huge range of topics that are discussed; each site gives peoples to express their own opinions.There could be many problems that arise from these sites such as lack of identity and accountability. With all of these sites it would be very simple for individuals to create fake accounts as well as the details that go with it. Because of this it protects the identity of the user which is good in general but it could have some implications with fraud and people saying they are someone who they are not. These sites can be very time consuming as I have found especially around assessment time and can be a huge distraction. When having and involving yourself in these sites it would be important to not get too caught up in it as it could become quite over ruling.The benefits these online communities have over traditional geographical communities are that no matter where you are in the world you are able to communicate. With these online communities it makes taking to someone on the other side of the world so simple. You no longer need to see people if you want to talk to them or catch up on their lives. Along with this it makes it a lot cheaper than having to phone someone when they are halfway around the world as we know how expensive this can be. These communities provide a cheap and easy way to communicate with any one no matter where they are as long as they have access to the internet.Although this community has many positives it also has some negatives when comparing to traditional forms of communication. Traditionally if you wanted to talk to people you had to do it face to face or over the phone. Because of these online social networks we lose a lot of personal conversations as well as personal interactions. By being online and talking to loved ones overseas it can also take the meaning away from getting to see someone you haven’t for a long time.
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