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Article: Electronic meeting place. (Virtual Communities).
- Article from:
- Canada and the World Backgrounder
- Article date:
- October 1, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Canada & the World. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When pundits speak of "community" on the Net, they re referring to the unique power of that medium to bring people together across incredible physical boundaries. This "togetherness" may show up as a Web-based discussion forum, an e-mail discussion list, a collection of user-created Websites, a thriving chat room, or any number of alternatives to or combinations of these things. People use these spaces to interact in a number of ways, based on topical interests, similar lifestyles, shared activities, alternatives to real-life meetings, and so on.
Howard Rheingold is the person credited with starting the virtual community movement. Writing in the online magazine ...