Embodied Group, is it Really a Community?

The embodied group I participate in transcends normal bonds and friendships. The bonds and trust we share with each other is practically beyond anything else I’ve experienced in life. Even though my community exists online, I believe my group meets all the criteria’s necessary to be considered a community.

Members constantly interact with other members, increasing everyone’s familiarity with one another. When members log onto World of Warcraft, they consistently choose to play and communicate with other community members because they feel safe interacting with each other. The reason members feel safe in confiding problems and struggles with other members is because our community upholds a high level of trust, an essential component to bond strength. Since practically all members maintain a positive and open environment, the community is able to increase its unity every day.

Another reason I believe my embodied group is a community is because it utilizes different modes of communication, permitting the group to grow into a community. As a virtual community, forming a tight-knit bond may be more difficult in comparison to a real-life community. Usually, people playing World of Warcraft are not capable of meeting with each other in real-life due to geographical differences, introducing issues that may inhibit players from forming strong bonds. However, our community utilizes several modes of communication, allowing my community to be even stronger. We are able to communicate via microphone, video chat, and chat room. Because we are unbounded by geography and have a complete set of tools for communication, we are able to recruit stronger and more dedicated members across the globe while maintaining the reassurance a real-life encounter would provide.

The large array of members spanning from continent to continent allows our community to be more diverse and accepting of others. This introduces the controversial issue over inclusivity and exclusivity. In my opinion, I believe a community should be inclusive dominant because it shows the community is open to a wider variety of people. Rather than be a strict, small group of people, I believe a community should have the strength to take a diverse set of people in, allowing for variety and slight difference of opinion within the community, rather than a homogeneous set of opinions and ideals. The purpose of allowing a slight difference of opinion is to avoid a conflict of radical interests, such as having a radical believer constantly preach to every member about how the path of their belief is the absolute right way.

Since members in my group maintain a high level of interaction, have exceedingly strong bonds, utilize various modes of communication, and are dominantly inclusive, I believe my embodied group is a community.

Crime and Born-digital Groups

The online group I participate in has several methods of dealing with crime. The most effective method is the use of terms and policies that all participants are subjected to agree to in order to gain access to the online group. The establishment of rules and punishments allows for a fair and effective way of maintaining order and peace within the online group. One of the most trifling issues with the Mr. Bungle case in A Rape in Cyberspace; or How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database into a Society by Julian Dibbell is that there “were no explicit MOO rules against rape, or against just about anything else” (105). In this account, Mr. Bungle maliciously raped and exploited other characters in the virtual world of LambdaMOO. However, there was controversy about whether he was able to be punished due to the lack of policies against misconduct online. In World of Warcraft, they circumvent this issue by establishing rules against misconduct under the supervision of Game Masters, or employees that respond to any type of exploitation and assess the situation accordingly. Contrary to explicitly stating rule after rule for different situations, they provide a general policy against misconduct, making the rule more versatile and applicable to different situations.

I believe this method is fair because I am able to enjoy my participation in this online group without fear of grotesque behavior, crime, and misconduct. I have participated in this online community for about 5 years and have never encountered an issue with crime that could not be dealt with. Although it may sound like an absolute method of carrying out rules against crime, every accused member is entitled to defend themselves. Since Game Masters are able to review past history and actions, they are able to justify their decisions with concrete information. In addition, Game Masters often refer to the general community when considering decisions or establishing policies. As a result, the community actually takes the leading role in how the Game Masters function and establish policies.

Works Cited

Dibbell, Julian. “A Rape in Cyberspace; or How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database into a Society.” The Village Voice. 21 Dec. 1993: 98-114. Rpt. In High Noon on the Electronic Frontier. Ed. P. Ludlow. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996. 375-96.

Individuality and Conformity