The Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS)

The Center for Education and Research in
Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS)
Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security

A Sounding Board for the Self: Virtual Community as Ideology

Author

Sorin Adam Matei

Entry type

article

Abstract

Claims about the emergence of a new type of social aggregation--"virtual community"--cover a type of ideological discourse about social interactions. The main cultural resource fueling this ideology is the counterculture and its social project. Virtual community, both as a discursive and as a social practice, is a culmination rather than a resolution of the modern conflict between community and individuality. Presenting virtual community as a panacea for modern social tensions, especially that between individualistic and communitarian ideals, hides from sight not only some of the negative aspects of on-line social life (cliquish behavior and incivility) but also the role played by communication technology in fragmenting modern society.

Date

2005

URL

http://baywood.metapress.com/a ... icationresults,1:300326,1

Journal

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Key alpha

Matei

Pages

345-365

Volume

35

Affiliation

Purdue University

Publication Date

2005-01-01

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