Virtual Communities

Virtual Communities in the internet involve rhizomic relationships "personal relationships". These occur over time where the personal relationships can develop and grow. So...when i think about networks throughout the internet, its like two or more people sharing a common interest in like an issue, a product etc and comment their opinion..this can then add more people all sharing their own beliefs establishing a network. The norms, social trust, co-ordination and co-operation that are associated with networks is social capital.
Communication can either have strong or weak ties..indiviuals shape communitites and communities shape indiviuals.

I personally believe that social communities are a great way for people to share a part of their identity and sare their opinion to a whole range of people over the internet. I recently heard of a person who had a medical condition, felt all alone and didnt have much knowledge of what it was so went online and came upon a network with a community having the same condition sharing their negative, postive experiences and sharing information about it. In the end, she formed strong ties between people over the internet, where she had felt so alone in that situation before....

Hackers and Hacking

When i think about hacking or try to define it somehow it always brings a picture up in my head of a nerdy guy....or girl..but for some reason a guy, huddled over a computer for hours on end, trying to decipher and translate a bunch of random codes...this probably is a typical situation but a better definition would be to use one's skill in computer programming to gain illegal or unauthorized access to a file or network. I could never be a hacker for reasons such as I dont have the brains, intelligence or the patience!
Since the internet has become an importance in peoples everyday lives, issues such as hacktivism, the hacker and hats are all connected with hacking. in the 1950s and 60s hacking began but by the mid 1980s, it had become an awareness to people and the media. Hacktivism is writing of code, or otherwise manipulating it, to promote political ideology- promoting expressive politics, free speech,human rights, or information ethics. This is a kind of "new style"hacking, which i find is ok, unless they promote dangerous ideas which i feel they should be punished for.
I feel i have to give credit to the people who can actually go on to a computer and decipher these codes, when im still having trouble how to set up a blog....!!!haha however it does make me question..Are we really safe on the internet..? I mean i do things like internet banking, putting credit card and my own personal details online which makes me wonder, could i be the next person they target next..haha sounds very dramatic, i no, but protective passwords and all that may not be enough to go against hackers.

So the topic in Coms205 has been about Architectures - Users, structures and networks. In a virutal community , users make up networks but are influenced by things like structures. Users can have their own online identity - a person can be anyone they want to be (old/Young) etc, and this online interaction does strip away the cues and signs that are part of face to face interaction.
However, Networks are composed of rhizomic social bonds. When there is a topic of interest between users and these public discussions last long enough, personal relationships can form