Critical Summary Writing for Virtual Communities - Assignment Example

Teacher Critical Summary for virtual communities According to Howard Rheingold in his paper “Virtual Communities: Norms for Members and Advice for Hosts”, the best way to host an online community or social media is to treat the community is to act like a party host. The host must be able to effectively facilitate group discussion in the virtual community and able to avoid the caveats and online pitfalls that causes people to misunderstand each other.An effective online host is one who can facilitate a spirit of group creativity, experimentation, exploration and goodwill where members are able to communicate positively with each other with the end of agreeing to work together.

Online discussion of whatever topic engages people and makes the virtual community interesting that engages people because a wealth of economies for knowledge are shared where everybody benefits from it of which an effective host is able to create the suitable environment for such engagement to flourish. This may not be easy to do but showing genuine interest for online community members and establishing rules early on helps create a positive online environment. The absence of physical contact makes online community vulnerable to misunderstanding and conflict.

It is expected that the host will be challenged by the community members in the early stage of the online community. It would be better if the host will delay emotional response when challenged by members of the online community. It would also help not to say anything and bend over backward to become civil when challenged. If the host must respond, it would be safer to send a private message to the party concerned. One must remember that an ounce of elegance and grace is worth ten pounds of argument.

Averting possible conflict in the online community ensures the positive atmosphere where members are engagedHosting a virtual community or social media is just like organizing a physical community. One must be a good host to facilitate group activity that keeps everyone interested. Just like physical community, there are also pitfalls that could spark misunderstanding of which a good host must avoid. Emotional restraint is a good quality of an online host to avoid conflict. once these environment is created, the online community will become a self-sustaining group and will grow.