Along with most of my fellow students here at Georgia Tech i am a member of Facebook. This infamous website which draws our attention away from anything and everything. However addicting and luring Facebook may be, the question is still presented as to whether or not he social networking site which withers away our adolescence and for a select few, adulthood as well, is considerded to be a community.
Community is a term which is thrown around very loosly in todays society. A clear definition of what a community actually is, is very hard to comeby, and continuity amongst definitions is even more sparse. As i have come to understand it, a community is a group of individuals who come together to share interests as well as share differences. These individuals must be just that... individuals. The differences among members in a community are what make that community effective, and are what drive that community to grow and advance.
With these parameters in place, we are finally able to make a decision as to the community status of Facebook. First of all, Facebook is certainly made up of a diverse group of individuals. there is no limit as to who can become a member. This smorgesboard of cultural, economical, and philisophic backrounds and identities makes Facebook a very likely place for discussion. However, in my mind Facebook as a whole does not fit into what a community is. Facebook as a whole is merely a device which is utilized by many different communities as a forum for discussion as well as a means of advertisement and expansion. Calling Facebook a community would be equivilent to calling the church structure itself a community. The community is made up those individuals which take part in the discussions, and make their beliefs known. Facebook is mearly the walls that enclose the meeting halls of thousands of smaller communities which share members all across the board. It is the smaller groups which exist inside of Facebook which are the real communities.
I feel as though while being a member of Facebook, I am involved in a community. Actually, i am involved in many diverse and different communties. however, I am not involved in a Facebook community. Facebook is mearly the interfcace which i use to be involved with other smaller communities.