A Community for Everyone :: Internet Cyberspace Web Essays

A Community for Everyone The Net is not one thing. Its like asking: Are women comfortable in bars? Thatss a silly question. Which woman? Which bar?(171). Amy Bruckman, founder of MediaMoo, a virtual community using text, compares Internet communities with bars. She talks about how different people are comfortable in different bars just as certain people are interested in certain online communities. Just because one person does not like one bar does not mean that the bar should be shut down. That person should simply not go to that particular bar. He or she should find another bar. In Finding Ones Own in Cyberspace, Amy Bruckman proves that the Internet does offer or can possibly offer an online community that can fit anyones needs. Diversity is the internets greatest strength. Communities can be as exclusive online as they are in real life. Anyone can have an effect on his or her community, whether by starting a community up or just by having an input. Anyone can find a community online. To start off, the in ternets greatest asset is its diversity. A person can find just about anything he or she wants on the Net, including an accepting community. The internet is unbelievably vast and diverse. It may take a little time but Bruckman argues, If you keep an open mind, however, you may come across something good(172). As will be gone into later, people need to stop focusing on the negatives and concentrate on the positive aspects and possibilities in order to appreciate what the internet has to offer. Now, finding a particular Website should be becoming simpler than ever. With new online architecture, it is becoming more and more easy to find these sites: Depending on choice of background color and texture, type styles, and special fade-in effects, for instance, a Web page can feel playful or gloomy, futuristic or old-fashioned, serious or fun, grown-up or child-centered(178). Online communities are making it simple to identify with them. In some cases, a person would not even have to read t he text in order to know if he or she has found the community he or she is looking for. He or she would just need to look at background or images. For instance, if someone were looking for information on soccer, the website would show a picture of a soccer ball and the person would immediately know that the website is soccer related.