According to Jim Hightower, “While all this razzle-dazzle connects us electronically, it disconnects us from each other, having us “interfacing” more with computers and TV screens than looking in the face of our fellow human beings. Is this progress?”
Most people nowadays spend excessive amount of time using computers to play games, watch and download videos online, and most especially to “socialize” through social networking web sites and many more. This leads computer users to separate in the real-world people and missing the real-world conversations through spending much of their time meeting people in a virtual community. The word virtual community as defined in Wikipedia.org says that “A virtual community is a social network of individuals who interact through specific media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals.”
It signifies that more people are being gathered in the internet because they have the same type of interest such as for playing games, watching video and updating profiles in social networking sites.
Virtual communities offered by the games that we play, social networking sites has also its beneficial results. It connects us with other people easily thus, we could interact with them and get to know their day to day experiences even if we are far from each other.
The concern in here would lie on the “excessive use”. People tend to become dependent on this and that they do not have a life on the outside world. They are fond of always using computers rather than doing their own thing to succeed. It must be that computer users should be able to mange their time on socializing online and going through the real world to have a fulfilling life. Anything which is excessively used is not good. It may lead to addiction and thus, it also applies to using virtual communities.
http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Are-the-Effects-of-Social-Networking-Websites?&id=1030141
