GEO 490x Communication & Geography Valparaiso University

	Department of Geography and Meteorology, Valparaiso University Geography of Cyberspace GEO/COM 280X Discussion Guide: The Virtual Community
What is community? What is a virtual community and what are its characteristics according to Rheingold? To what extent does Rheingold's describe the Well as a place? Why is it important for people who use computers to know something about how the Internet functions according to Rheingold? What specific characteristics of the WELL as a place make it conducive to community formation? Who were the users of the WELL? How do people find friends both IRL and on the net? Can you have community without place? To what extent are face to face meetings an integral part of these communities? What is the difference between the "electronic agora" and the panopticon? What is a "third place" and why are they important? How does the WELL help its users to accomplish things IRL? What is the "dark side" of the WELL? Can you find instances where Rheingold elides concepts of place and community? What was the role of the counterculture in innovation on the Well? How does an online forum function as a form of community memory? Does this mean that a community will last longer? What is the Gift economy? What is the role of both strong and weak tie relationships on the WELL? To what extent does the Internet flatten hierarchies? Note the date of this writing and the date of Rheingold's first logon to the WELL. What has changed since he wrote this? Is this type of community still possible on the Internet? Could a system like this be built in Valparaiso today? Was this all a passing fad of the late 1980s and early 1990s before the dot com bubble burst? How do today's My Space and Facebook communities compare to the early days of the WELL?
Copyright 2006 Michael W. Longan