Given what you know about community, is it possible to form a virtual community?
Community brings people together.
Take for example, this blog that I follow, http://half12.blogspot.com/
If you take a bit of time to browse the site, you will find a heartbreaking story of a family’s journey as they have lost one daughter (a twin), Tuesday, to an aggressive form of cancer, Neuroblastoma. Jessica, the mom and main blogger of the site, writes about her grief in its purest and rawest forms – she also wrote about life before the cancer monster reared its ugly head in their lives. Their blog has 838 followers; people who sign up to get updates and come from all over the world to connect to this family’s journey.
To me, this is a great example of a virtual community. I do not know this lady but I literally sobbed while reading her blog – from the beginning when everything seemed perfect, to discovering the cancer, the battle that ensued, and now through the family’s grief. It is this type of public forum, a virtual community that allows people to come together, strangers, neighbors, family and friends, to listen and give support with their comments. Here is a sample:
Lee of MWOB said...
Oh my. I just watched that gorgeous video of your Tuesday and your family. I am crying for you again, you, a stranger, but because of this space of yours and because we are mothers, you don't seem a stranger at all. My thoughts go often to you and then prayers follow. Of course, where do you go from here...that feeling makes perfect sense to me.Love to all of you...
May 26, 2009 9:51 PM
As you can see, there is a sense of connection; whether it is a mother, a cancer survivor, or someone who is interested in giving support, they are there to come together, to communicate.
Some of Jessica’s followers organized an online auction through their own blogs to raise money for cancer research. Most of these people have never met Jessica, or Tuesday, but they were so moved and connected in this virtual world that they reached out to support their virtual friend.
Do you feel that you know your classmates in this online class the same as if you were in a classroom with them? Post your response to discussion forum.
I believe that I do know people better in this class more so that in a traditional, F2F classroom. At my leisure, I can read through your backgrounds, postings, and interactions that you have with me and each other. In a F2F classroom, I would never be able to eavesdrop on this many conversations! It also gives me an insight into some of my classmate’s background knowledge – I know where you are coming from when you say X because you stated that you do X for a living or were raised X. Never before have I had such insight. There is not enough time during traditional classes to get to know each other on this level.
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