2.2 Communities
Break point
This would be a good point to take a break if you need to do something else before returning later.
As well as revolutionising the commercial world, the internet has had an enormous impact on the way we communicate. While there are still people in many parts of the world who do not have internet access, many of us have access at home or at work. As a result, we have the opportunity to communicate with others using email, instant messaging and online discussion groups (in online forums). Existing communities have created new ways of communicating, and new online communities have developed. Social networking plays an increasingly significant role in the lives of many people.
The recent pace of communication change has amazed many of us, and there is no reason to think that things will slow down. Figure 6 illustrates the relative size and significance of online communities in 2010. The first version of this map appeared on the web in early 2007 when MySpace was the most important social networking site and the micro-blogging site Twitter didn’t exist. Over time, new online communities may appear and grow and the current ones may decline, or others which were declining may increase in size and importance.
