Abstract:
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ABSTRACT
TRADITIONAL COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL NETWORKING
ONLINE COMMUNITIES
by
Christina Salva Dreifort
Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies:
Socio-Political Theory
California State University, Chico
Spring 2011
Information and modern society are interconnected with interpersonal relationships and the technology that is used by the masses to facilitate communication that makes those relationships possible. Social Networking Online Communities (SNOC) such as Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter have gained increased popularity with the public as well as significant media attention. By examining differences between traditional communications and internet-based social networks, potential consequences that could result from supplementing or replacing the traditional face-to-face communication of social information with internet based social networking are explored.
The transition of communities from face-to-face communication to technology-based communication, such as telegraph, telephone, and eventually the Internet, are described and diagramed. As the origins of communities are discussed,
theories from Émile Durkheim and Amitai Etzioni are detailed. Also, primary research on Social Networking Online Communities was conducted by creating a user account on each social networking site.
By comparing and contrasting Social Networking Sites with communities as defined by the theory of Communitarianism, the question to be answered here is “Are Social Networking Online Communities true communities?” Tensions exist in relationships that are built on technology. Society, by trying to build communitarian type relationships, becomes overly complex because the flow of information has drastically changed. For example, when using modern technology to communicate, the individual may abbreviate words or use made up words or symbols (like abbreviates, emoticons, acronyms).
The results suggest that Social Networking Sites do not constitute true communities, because the technology that allows access to SNOC is a gatekeeper of communication: if one is unable to use the social networking technology to reach out to another user, that mode of communication is rendered inoperative.
