Similar Characteristics sought in Physical and Online Communities?

You say people look for similarities while communicating with people on the web...although, do you think they are looking for the same characteristics as in someone they meet during face to face communication?

This is a thought-provoking question and one that sociologists have also began to ask. The simple answer to your question is that, no, people do not look for the same characteristics in online communication that they look for in face-to-face communication; however, the whole answer is so much deeper.

As my original post stated, online communities serve functions of bridging and bonding. Bridging serves to overcome obstacles which would otherwise impede face-to-face communications (Norris, 2002). Some of these obstacles include race, gender, sexual preference, and religion. Online communities provide a non-threatening forum for people to communicate in an asynchronous fashion that face-to-face communication doesn’t foster (Burnett & Marshall, 2003.) This removes the nonverbal aspect which can often serve negatively in face-to-face communication. Bonding, on the other hand, is when people seek other communities who are similar to themselves. This function doesn’t generally reflect the same desired characteristics as face-to-face communication but bonding can link people of similar ethnicities which could be characteristics that people seek in face-to-face communication.

Stine Gotved, in his article titled “Spatial Dimensions in Online Communities,” states that the reasons people join an online community are threefold: destiny, proximity, or shared interests (2002). The reason of destiny refers primarily to the formation of online communities due to a family bond. Proximity refers to the formation of online communities centering on the village or neighborhood. Finally, Shared interests focuses on interests as the driving factor for online community formation.

Face-to-face communication often isolates marginalized people such as single mothers working at home, gay men, or rural poor populations (Norris, 2002). In physical communities people who are outside of the marginalized group tend to avoid these marginalized groups, online communities provide a means to overcome the marginalization and enable people to bond despite the societal restrictions that face-to-face communication entails (2002).

References

Burnett, R. & Marshall, D. P. The Web as Communication. Web Theory: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2003.

Norris, P. (2002). The Bridging and Bonding Role of Online Communities. The Harvard International Journal Of Press/politics 7, 3, 3-13. Retrieved Nov. 30, 2006 from SAGE Publications Communication Studies: A SAGE Full-Text Collection database.

Gotved, S. (2002). Spatial Dimensions in Online Communities. Space And Culture 5, 4, 405-414. Retrieved Nov. 28, 2006 from SAGE Publications Sociology: A SAGE Full-Text Collection database.