Virtual Communities

Virtual communities are 3D interactive worlds that users access through computers to immerse themselves in alternate, Internet-based realities. Users create customized avatars and interact with others through public and private text- or voice-based communication modalities. Some of these communities present fanciful lands wherein members complete exotic quests; others mirror normal life with particular alterations, such as the ability to fly. In any virtual community, thousands of people can simultaneously interact in the same locale. Virtual communities attempt to supplement or recreate aspects of interpersonal interaction, often by inserting nonverbal cues that are absent from other modes of computer-mediated communication. Their realism and distinguishing features combined with their ability to host multiple types of interactions make virtual communities a novel context for engaging and studying interpersonal communication.